


Fated Wands || Grindeldore

by MightyWallJericho



Series: Bloodlines Universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Evil Ron Weasley, F/F, F/M, Gay, M/M, Ron Weasley Bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27352054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyWallJericho/pseuds/MightyWallJericho
Summary: Aberforth Dumbledore's first and only wife died in childbirth, but the child they had together quite later on in life survived, meaning that when she died in childbirth after her first daughter, he was left to raise her just as he had his own.Gellert Grindelwald having a terrible one night stand ended up being a good thing that gave him a single daughter. That daughter going on to do the same thing seems to indicate a cycle of trends in the Grindelwald family, trends that seem to be inevitable.Ariana, better known as Al, Dumbledore has always been one to cause trouble, but when she comes to Hogwarts for her first year, she finally has someone to cause mischief with her.Gelsomeana, but goes by Gel, Grindelwald has not known of any friend or other relationship than her guardian and mother figure Professor McGonagall, so when the trouble causing blonde Dumbledore comes tumbling into her life she is left shocked and with no other options than to pick up a friendship along the ways of her school life.Dumbledore and Grindelwald, two names that seem to always be brought together by fate, have joined forces once more.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s), Hermione Granger/Original Female Character(s), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Bloodlines Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997563
Kudos: 5





	1. [ ʜ ᴏ ɢ ᴡ ᴀ ʀ ᴛ ꜱ ,  ꜰ ɪ ʀ ꜱ ᴛ  ʏ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ]

·.¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·

[ ʜ ᴏ ɢ ᴡ ᴀ ʀ ᴛ ꜱ , ꜰ ɪ ʀ ꜱ ᴛ ʏ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ]

No matter who comes through those ancient doors at Hogwarts for their first year, they know they will find a home in the crowded hallways and cozy dormitories that the school has to offer. Being both a comforting second home and a first home to their students, Hogwarts has survived through the worst wizarding wars to ever exist, always coming out on top. With a Headmaster almost as ancient as the school itself, Hogwarts has wisdom and mischief laced into it's history.

With both misery and triumph, this year is an eventful one indeed. The arrival of Harry Potter and yet another D.A.D.A teacher have come through those doors. Who will make it out alive?

One would assume that Harry Potter's arrival would be the most prestigious event for the school, but two names that have not graced the lips of the sorting hat have arrived. One Dumbledore and one Grindelwald, two names that every wizarding family knows. Dumbledore for victory, and Grindelwald for defeat.

Now the fate of the wizarding world is in the hands of the select few who possess both talent, wit, mischief, bravery, and resourcefulness.

·.¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·


	2. Summer 91'

Gelsomeana’s POV

**One would assume being born** from one witch converted to the dark side and one anonymous man would make me one bad object that nobody would ever wish to be around, but it seemed that life was quite the opposite. Even when going through the doors of Gringotts with my mother, adopted, of course, the people and goblins inside paid me no attention, turning my way once before going back to what they were in the bank to do. It wasn’t that they hated my presence, it was that they just didn’t care. That kind of invisibility was what I needed, what I craved above all else, and it had been given to me for the past ten years.

“Stay close, Gel,” mother motioned me closer to her side, just as she always did once I started to wander a little too far for her liking. “Wouldn’t want anything to happen.”

“Nothing ever does,” I mutter, kicking my feet out in boredom. She smiled and I continued to walk with her to the front of the bank. Right there on top of his little pedestal stood the head banker, a goblin with a crooked nose. Well, they did all have hooked noses, but his nose was more prominent than the rest of the goblins he worked with.

“Miss McGonagall,” he looked her in the eye before looking down at me, “Miss Grindelwald. What is it that you need today?”

“Just some money from my vault. You know, with school starting back up soon,” he nodded as my mother gave him her key just like she always did, “Come now, Gel, we have much to get for school this year and we must beat all of the crowds. Lord, Diagon Alley must be packed this year. More students than ever before.”

Nodding, I stay quiet behind her, not wanting to make more noise than was necessary. People were likely looking at me from afar. Even if they never made any remarks or even mentioned me to the witches and wizards around them, my identity was obvious. There was no other young witch that had this pale of skin, or this white of hair. Not even a family like the Malfoys could have a son with peculiarities such as my own. A muggle doctor would assume that I was suffering from Albinism if it weren't for my dark brown eyes.

Those little things about myself were my greatest insecurities. It wasn’t like I could glamour myself since I didn’t have my wand yet, so I had to live with the traits I inherited from my bloodline. Grindelwalds, the house of Purebloods and Dragons. I would never be able to get away from my heritage, no matter how much I would much prefer to put the name behind me and live a relatively normal life.

The bank had many areas to it and I had seen quite a few of them. Since my mother had multiple areas where she kept her money and various family heirlooms, some of which being my own inheritance since she’s the only one who can watch over those for me until I turn seventeen. The place where we were going today was just the main vault.

Looking inside of our vault after one of the goblins brought us to the outside, I could see quite a few heaps of gold galleons. We were never the most affluent, but we had enough to buy ourselves some pretty nice things. Mum’s job at Hogwarts paid well. Transfiguration would be fun once I arrived at school.

Mum grabbed all of the gold that we would need for school, putting all of it in her neverending bag. Thanking the goblin, we were promptly escorted out of the bank.

  * .¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·



**My body ached as I** woke up. It wasn’t that often that I found myself sleeping on the wrong side of the bed or in the wrong position, but during the night I must have done something astonishingly harsh to my spine. Whining, I opened the blinds that were right next to my bed. I was lucky that Mum hadn’t come to wake me up yet, she could be a worse pain than I was currently experiencing, often shaking me awake if I tried to refuse her calls for me to come downstairs.

“Gel!” There it was, the call of my mother for me to come downstairs and eat breakfast with her. “It’s time for breakfast!”

Groggily making my way down our hardwood stairs, I see my mother at the table. A plate already put out for me, I rub my eyes and sit down across from her, taking a sip of my glass of orange juice. Simple eggs, bacon, and toast were all I ever wanted to eat in the morning, so no matter what day it was we would have that at the table.

“Morning,” I mutter, trying to take a bite of my bacon but failing miserably. “What are we doing today?”

“By the heavens Gel,” looking up at her I see her stern expression and take in a deep breath. I had no clue how I managed to put that stern look on her face this early on in the morning. Usually, it took until at least three for her to lose her temper with me and my tone. “Can’t even remember that it’s your eleventh birthday.”

Perking up, I look at Mum again, her face now much softer. “I thought it was next week. If it’s… oh it is Monday then.”

“It is indeed Monday, Gelsomeana, now help yourself to breakfast while I go fetch the post from outside. Remember to eat the whites of the eggs as well as the yolk,” she reminded me, getting up and making her way outside.

We must get over twenty letters per day coming to our house in Hogsmeade. All sorts of things ranging from social letters from Albus Dumbledore and Sybill Trelawney to ministry matters. Ever since I came into her care I remember the sounds of owls hooting their way across our yard, dropping off letters, and sometimes even staying to chat with one another.

Scarfing down my birthday breakfast, I looked over to the edge of the windowsill, where I could see three owls standing. They all gave me a wary expression before running off. It seemed that Owls didn’t like me one bit, just flying away every time I tried to come close to them. It became a bit of a hassle when I was supposed to be relaying mail for Mum. After a few weeks of trying she just did them all herself, not wanting any of her letters to be late. That would cause quite the disruption, especially if it was a ministry matter.

Coming back around five minutes later, Mum gave me a warm smile before handing me my coat.

“We have to go to Hogwarts grounds today so I can send off some of the Hogwarts letters for this year. Make sure to keep your coat on at all times, I wouldn’t want you freezing.”

  * .¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·



**Roaring winds hit our faces** all the way into Hogwarts, with Mum covering her face and myself just waiting for the wind to stop harassing us, which it never did, constantly hitting us while we tried to walk into the castle. It wasn’t all that bad, but it was indeed cold. Even in June the skies were freezing, an icy blue. Hogsmeade had always been cold, but the castle was colder than any place I had ever been.

Going to Hogwarts was my dream. Ever since I can remember all I wanted was to go to Hogwarts and learn all I could about magic. Since we lived so close to the ancient castle, I often found myself looking off in the distance only to see its shadow lingering through the fog.

Once the winds died down we were able to enter safely, shuddering as we found ourselves inside the castle. A few teachers lived there even when school was in session, although Mum had moved out once she had me in her care. It would be odd to raise a child inside of that castle, with older students constantly around. Would have been a hassle as well. I was a fussy little thing for the longest time, never going to sleep on time or taking no for an answer. It was for the best that she moved out. All she ever wanted was to have someone to live with her.  _ What is she going to do once I move out of the house? Oh well, that’s not going to happen for a long time. No need to worry right now. _

The inside was all that I would expect from such an ancient place. The old stones that lined every wall had a piece of history inside, the people who placed their memories long gone by now. This was the place where people learned, fought, tamed, and grew. A home for so many and a battleground for some.

Looking into what I assumed was the Great Hall, I saw an elderly man sitting at a table, eating what I assumed was lunch. He wore a charming smile on his face as he chatted with many of my Mum’s fellow teachers, laughing at their jokes as they talked. Mum led me over, likely wanting to speak with them as well. The man turned to me and I saw his pale blue eyes light up for a moment before he smiled at Mum and I.

“Ah, Minerva, you have finally brought young Miss Grindelwald to Hogwarts. A bit early, I may add,” I blushed furiously as he chuckled. I wasn’t supposed to be here, but here I was, aged eleven and early. “She shall be a first year student this upcoming school year. Ah, what an age, eleven. I can barely remember it. The sorting ceremony was remarkable that year. I believe that was the year that Dippet broke his chalice.”

“What house do you think she’ll be in, Minerva?” a woman with funny looking glasses asked. I had seen her from a few muggle pictures that Mum had taken over the years. This was her good friend Sybill Trelawney, who she had been friends with since her time in Hogwarts.

“I’m not quite sure about it, Sybill, but I know that Gel has shown great promise already. Blew up the fireplace that one Christmas  _ and _ has managed to get things off the shelf with wandless magic since she was three!” I was used to my Mum flaunting some of the things I had always been able to do. I guess it would help me stand out, but that wasn’t what I really wanted to do. What was everyone going to think of the granddaughter of one of the darkest wizards of all time once they found out that she could be just as powerful as him?

“Wandless magic? Are you sure?” She questioned, taking a good look at me, scratching her scalp as her eyes wandered to my own. “A magical child indeed!”

“As is to be expected given her ancestry,” a man with a face sterner than my mother’s and eyes blacker than coal said. I had never seen a man who looked so angry in his general life, with all of his clothes perfectly in order as he sat with his tea. “We’ll see if her  _ wandless magic _ helps her in  _ my  _ classroom. Blowing up the fireplace doesn’t sound like the best start to an education.”

“Don’t be like that, Severus, Gel will be a promising student this year. Our fireplace was an easy fix and Gel made sure to help in the process,” I shrunk behind my Mum as she spoke, not wanting to meet  _ Severus’ _ dead eyes as they pierced their way into my skull. This man had no sense of life to him, his cold eyes reflecting that clearly. The way that he spoke told me that he thought of himself as better than me, which I found odd since he was supposed to be one of my future teachers. This sense did not come from either my future Headmaster or Sybill Trelawney, so why he conducted himself in such a way was peculiar.

“We will see,” was all that he said as he took himself and his tea out of the Great Hall, his cloak trailing after him. Some of the other teachers sighed as he left, as if they wanted to say something but were forbidden from doing so.

“I wish he would show his own students some care once and a while,” Mum tutted, settling herself down in a chair. “When is your great-niece coming down, Albus? Will you give Ariana her first letter or has Aberforth forbidden you from doing so?”

“Ah, she is already here. I suppose she should be coming down from the Gryffindor towers soon, as it is already half past noon. Although I should tell you now, she goes by the nickname ‘Al’,” Mum nodded before I sat next to her, quietly taking a piece of toast and grabbing a plate. I may have eaten breakfast, but that was all the food I had today. Lunch was most definitely desirable.

Mum and some of the other professors chatted while I silently ate my meal. While I understood a lot of what they were talking about, I found that the best way for adults to like you is to just be quiet and not bud in where you aren’t wanted.

A loud crash could be heard from down the hall, with a yell from a man coming right afterwards. Headmaster Dumbledore chuckled. “That would be her. Must have broken something already. As to be expected.”

“She can’t use her wand yet,” Mum looked to the blonde girl who had just come into view, “What could she possibly be using to create such a ruckus in the corridor?”

“Could be a shoe. She used one last year to break one of her grandfather’s old vases.”

  * .¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·



Al’s POV

**Crashing my way down the** stairs had become my favorite pastime during these past few months. When I wasn’t learning all about magic early through the new textbooks Grandpa gave me, I found my time being spent accidentally blowing things up and creating havoc in the house. Yes, it made my Grandpa a little annoyed, but it was fun and I had nothing better to do with my abnormally vacant schedule. If he wanted me to stop he could have just forced me to do something with myself like chores or perhaps writing a book on why little girls shouldn’t bring dinner to their beds.

Finding my favorite cloak inside of the crevices between my bed and the painted wall in my room, I hurry myself out of my room and to the breakfast table.

Today was going to be a big day and I would waste no time in that old and rusty room of mine. Even if it was the best place to sleep in the house and bar, it had a sense of death and slight annoyances. Must have just been my aura wearing off on it, or perhaps my Grandpa’s when he has to scold me every few hours.

My Grandpa was already situated at the head of the table, with a breakfast of pancakes and syrup ready for me. Looking at me, he makes no effort to ask me to sit down. Of course, he was reading the Daily Prophet, which had very few good stories running these days. Mostly theories on why Mr. Vega was not at work and still at his home, some of which being both bizarre and fanatical. One Rita Skeeter had been trying to get him to comment for some time now, but it seemed that he would refuse her every single time.

“Anything new with the Prophet?” I ask just like I had for the last three years. Grandpa shook his head before putting down the newspaper.

Taking one bite of my pancakes, I note all of the owls that had left letters inside of our home. About three were outside today, very out of the ordinary. Usually we only had one or two, but never three. The last time we had three was when I caused a forest fire at the age of five. Took out over forty trees and caused a major scene for the ministry to cover up.

“Going to Hogwarts to see your uncle this week,” He mumbled, “Can’t believe you’re already eleven and are going off to Hogwarts in a few months. Last time I checked you were two and just learning how to break stuff.”

“It’s been that long? Nine years seems so long to be breaking everything in this house,” Grandpa chuckled and nodded, handing me the Daily Prophet newspaper. “I thought you said there wasn’t any good news today.”

“Today’s columns aren’t newsworthy, but I think you’ll like what the horoscope section has to say for you Aquarians,” I nodded, taking the newspaper and reading the section.  _ Aquarians will find that today is the day for romance. Go out and meet new people, your soulmate could be creeping around the corner! Our best seers and astrologists predict great things for you today in the game of love! _

“Codswallop,” I mutter. It wasn’t like I would be finding a soulmate on my short trip to Hogwarts today, not unless my supposed lover was an old teacher.  _ Disgusting. Never will I think of something so horrific again. Al, don’t do that sort of thing to your mind yet. You’re only eleven years old. Much too young to be thinking about love. _

“Agreed, but it is a funny take on things. Romance, like you’ll ever get a man with that rambunctious attitude of yours,” I groan at Grandpa’s comment. “Must have been years since I sent your mother off to school and now I finally get to see you go off. No doubt you’ll be breaking whatever you can in that old place. You’re lucky that my brother doesn’t do anything about rulebreakers or you’d be expelled the second you got sorted. Make sure to not get into too much trouble. I don’t want to be hearing from your teachers about you breaking whatever the rules are, young lady.”

“You won’t,” I mumbled, finishing up my breakfast. “When are we going anyways? I don’t want to miss out on all of my ample opportunities to _break things_.”

It was my Grandpa’s turn to groan, finishing his meal right after me, coughing a bit as he heard my comment. “What did I just tell you? Oh, you won’t listen to your old man even if he was tryna save your life. We’re leaving right after you get your stuff packed up and ready to go. I didn’t see any suitcases up there, so I know you haven’t been doing that.”

“I had much better things to do with my time,” He gave me a glare, “Okay maybe I was napping yesterday but I also used some time to study those new textbooks you got me.”

“Well you’ll get time to  _ nap _ when you get done with what you were supposed to be doing, Al, so go on and pack.”

  * .¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·



**Finding my way into the** ancient castle had proven to be one of the hardest tasks in my life. That was saying something since I live with my Grandpa, the most difficult man in existence.

Once I had in fact found my way inside of the castle I was instantly reprimanded by one Argus Filch, who I knew had been the school’s  _ janitor _ for some time now. Since he was a Squib there weren’t many other places that he could go, so the school even keeping him was the best thing he could possibly have happened to him. I mean, I would assume that they just cleaned everything up with magic or even a couple hundred house elves. What could a Squib do for this school that a normal witch or wizard couldn’t? We may never know.

“Get yourself inside, shortie,” Filch sneered at me, pushing my bags along the floor. He would have to be taking them all the way up the Gryffindor Tower since that was where I would be staying until Hogwarts started. My uncle had promised that I could ride the train the first year, but I knew that having him pick me up was wishful thinking. I would write the letter that I wanted to stay until the start of term to make sure I didn’t get disappointed when he never comes to pick me up.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, making sure to not get too close to him. Something inside of me told my mind to stay away from that man at all costs. He didn’t have any happy energy coming off of him so I wanted nothing to do with him. People who were mean to children had no place in my life.

It had taken me three hours to finally finish getting my stuff set up in the tower. Since we were all pretty sure that I would be a Gryffindor once the sorting was placed on my head during the ceremony, my uncle had allowed me to stay in the girls towers. I knew that I was meant for the house, with all of my mischief and general nerves. Just like the rest of my family, I would join Gryffindor house with no grace and all mental strength, sometimes even tripping over myself.

By the time I found my way going down the hallways I had already knocked over some stuff, alerting Filch to my location. Annoyed by the fact that this old man was running after me like I was some sort of dark witch in need of catching, I pushed some of my free magic down the hall in order to hit him, making him scream with anger. Thankfully my magic hadn’t caused much disruption, or that was what I thought.

“You damn brat!” Filch screamed at me as he got hit with my stray magic, which had started to flow out of me as a form of protection, almost hitting him every single time he took a step. My entire body was heavy as I outran him, keeping a nice pace that he couldn’t match in his old age.  _ He must be an old man because even Grandpa can keep up with me most of the time. How is he supposed to catch students doing bad things when he can’t keep up with an eleven year old girl?  _ My lungs winded, I ran down the stairs to make my way into the hallway.

On my way down I had accidentally missed where I was going and threw myself down the staircase. Not thinking much of it since Filch was still trying to catch me, I found myself running once more, never looking back. Magic flowing out of me in every direction, I watched as one of the many paintings in the corridor fell down, the portrait screaming as it made contact with the floor.

“Sorry!” my voice came out rushed as I uttered the apology, voice quick and vacant of any emotion. There were many things that I needed to do today and picking up a painting was not one of them, especially since lunch would be going on and I needed food to fuel my body for some more time at Hogwarts.

Accidentally being grabbed by the collar by a random black-haired man was not what I was expecting from my afternoon run through the halls of Hogwarts, but it was what I got. The man in front of me growled as he saw the annoyance in my eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing? Running down the hallways at this hour without anyone to escort you where you’re supposed to be going?” His voice was just as dark as his hair and robes with a hint of demand as he spoke.  _ What the bloody hell do you mean by escort? No, I’m gonna roam around here and as long as I don’t blow up the place I’ll be fine. _

“Getting to the Great Hall, so get your hands off of my collar,” he instantly dropped me as he took a look at the book I was holding in my hand. It was the diary that my great-uncle had sent to me last Christmas after he learned that I had broken one of his brother’s vases with a shoe. He thought it was a worthy gift that year. It was the first thing that he got me for the holiday, although he had sent me some things for my past birthdays. “Don’t put your hands on me ever again. In fact, never put your hands on any students in this school. You’re a teacher, not a dictator.”

“You think you have the authority to command me? You insolent child-” I cut him off. Whoever this professor was, he clearly didn’t understand basic decency and respect just like that Squib who was chasing me.  _ What kind of guy thinks he can treat a child like that? Come on, professor, you just admitted I’m a child then insulted me. You have no class whatsoever. _

"This _ insolent child _ is the great-niece of your boss so unless you want to be fired by the headmaster and have your head put on a pike by my grandpa you'll listen to me clearly right now: you will never put your hands on me again or I will make you regret ever being born,” the man let out what was almost a growl as I spoke.

“"You have no idea what you've just started, you haughty, hook-nosed  _ bully _ ,” I sneered before leaving him flabbergasted by what I had just said to him.  _ Looks like nobody has ever put that guy in his place. Has nobody ever told a teacher off when they do something wrong? I mean teachers aren’t supposed to lay hands on a student, ever, so what he did was much worse than what I did. Good lord, it was for the greater good that I be the one to tell him off since I can’t really get in trouble. _

Making my way into what I assumed was the Great Hall, I laid my eyes on a girl my age. I could clearly make out her snow white hair, a clear contrast to her chocolate brown eyes that held a glimmer of raw power to them. When she looked right into my eyes, it was like there was nobody else in the room, even if it was really crowded with teachers who sat by her side.  _ By the heavens, she’s the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen. _

  * .¸¸.·♩♪♫ _______________ ♫♪♩·.¸¸.·



Gel’s POV

**The girl who had come** in hadn’t stopped staring at me since our eyes met.  _ Did I do something wrong? Oh my god I probably look like crap! She’s really pretty. That’s the Headmaster’s great-niece? I can see the resemblance, but I never would have thought she would look this pretty! Why do I have to look like an albino peacock and she gets to look like a damn angel? That isn’t fair… _

“Gel?” Mum’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, with her hand settled on my shoulder. “Albus, is that her?”

“Yes, it seems to be,” he smiled and waved his relative over to the table, where she stiffly walked over. “How have you been this summer, Al? I hope my brother hasn’t been giving you much trouble since the last time I saw him. Must have been three years now. Hope the three years have treated you well. I also hope you like lemon drops just as much as you did the last time I brought them to your house. They are always in supply in my office if you want any.”

“Thank you Uncle,” She said quietly, clearly shy in the presence of teachers. “I didn’t know there would be more students coming here early.”

“Neither did I, but Minerva brought her daughter Gel in for her birthday. You two will be in the same year,” she looked at me as her uncle spoke, those misty blue eyes trailing back into my dark ones. My face flushed as she continued to look at me, turning a light pink at the attention I was now getting. It wasn’t that I hated attention in general, I often craved it, but not when it was coming from an attractive girl around my age.

Especially not when the extremely beautiful girl was going to be my classmate and was the daughter of the Headmaster.

“Oh, you and Gel can walk around the school if you would like. Just make sure to not mess with too much, Gel. A friend would do you well,” I nod awkwardly and stand up, starting to walk away with the girl.

I had really never seen someone with this kind of beauty. How she was allowed to even  _ exist _ was a mystery. The way that she moved was less graceful, almost tripping over her own feet as we walked outside of the Great Hall at the suggestion of my mother. I heard the laughter and chatter of many of the teachers inside as they watched us leave.

Shoving some of my awkwardness aside, I made the first move to initiate conversation, “What house do you think you’ll be in?”

“I’ll be a Gryffindor like everyone in my family,” Al says proudly, glancing at some of the paintings that lined the corridor. “What house do you think you’ll be placed in?”

“No clue. Mum says I’d be a Gryffindor but she also says I remind her of a Ravenclaw. I don’t know which one I’ll get or if I’ll even get those two. For all I know I could be a Slytherin,” I saw her frown at the mention of the snake’s house.  _ Right, Gryffindor and Slytherin have a rivalry at Hogwarts. How could I be so stupid to forget something like that? _

“Personally you don’t seem like a Slytherin,” she says, “I’ve never met a former Slytherin adult who acts like you. You remind me more of the Gryffindor students that come around Hogsmeade during the school year. Don’t you ever go out and see them?”

I shook my head. During the school year Mum often saw me when she would go back home every weekend to make sure I was doing alright. Of course she took off the first few years of my life, but at four she was back at Hogwarts. I had not been able to go outside. I didn’t want to see any of the students beforehand, although I had seen a pair of redheaded boys get in trouble with Mum last year.

“No, not really. Even if I live in Hogsmeade I don’t get out much. Mostly stayed with Madam Rosemerta during the day and played with the toys she set out for me in the bar. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the students recognized me from inside of there, especially if they’re much older. Lord, if they’re seventh years they will remember me from when I was eight. That’s going to be embarrassing. Memories of an eight year old year old Gelsomeana Grindelwald,” Al giggled and continued to walk with me until we reached the outside. “How long will you be staying here during the summer?”

“Most likely all the way until school starts. Grandpa isn’t very reliable when it comes to pickups so I’m expecting a long stay. It’s fine since I packed enough for the school year and took it with me,” I frown at the mention of her Grandpa not doing his best to pick his own Granddaughter up.  _ If you’re going to raise a kid you have to be punctual and not just drop her off at your brother's place and hope for the best. That’s your job as a parent figure. My mum would never do something like that. She always picks me up from things, even if she has to make changes in her precious schedule. _

“It’s fine though. Honestly I can’t blame him for not wanting me in that house for the rest of the summer. I’m a pain to deal with,” I shake my head.

“Just because someone is a pain in someone’s arse doesn’t mean that they get to abandon them at their brother’s house. If my mum ever did that everyone would go mad and get her in big trouble,” She sighed and nodded. “Just so you know, you’re always welcome to stay at our place if you need somewhere to stay. Mum has wanted me to make friends for the longest time but I can’t manage conversations with people who don’t understand basic transfiguration and wandless magic theory. Do you know wandless magic yet? I haven’t met anyone who can perform it other than my mum and myself.”

“Used it on Filch down the hall today. Grandpa just yells at me whenever I try and use it in front of him, tells me to stop showing off and use my magic up when I’m older, whatever that means.”

“That isn’t how it works, you know. We don’t have a specified amount of magic we can use before we turn into muggles. Actually, it would be that we turned into Squibs. Thankfully none of that, we have magic for the rest of our lives,” I explained, “Not only are you the only other person who has expressed that they can perform wandless magic like myself, but you have quite the eye for clothing. Where did you get that shirt?”

“Found it in Madam Malkins a few years back. Too bad it didn’t fit me before now since I grew about three inches this summer. I used to be so short.”  _ You still are so short. You’re like a foot smaller than me.  _ “You’re a giant, though. How did you manage to get so tall by the age of eleven? Are you just done growing?”

“Grew about two inches this summer, but that leaves me at being exactly 160 cm, much taller than you at the moment,” She let out a low hiss from under her breath as I spoke, “It’s all the truth. Better to tell it how it is. For the greater good of everyone around you.”  
“What would you mind doing _for the greater good_?” She questioned me, inviting my mind to the conversation. “There are many things you could do with such a phrase.”

“Most likely already coined, Al, but I would do anything for the greater good. Although what that greater good may be is unknown, I hope that I do my best to reach for it, no matter the cost.”

“Even if it meant losing friends?” She asked.

“Certain friends are not worth your time. Those who do not mentally challenge you are just a burden in my humble opinion. Imagine what life would be like if you didn’t surround yourself with more knowledgeable people than yourself. You wouldn’t be able to learn anything because all of that knowledge would have already been with you,” Al nodded in understanding. “People are peculiar in that way. It is why I have no friends. I will make friends when I find someone who can challenge me.”

“Do I not challenge you?” She whispers, her voice lingering with insecurity.

“You are the only one who has challenged me so far,” her eyes lit up when I said that, almost bright light running through her blue eyes. “Although I have no clue how to be a friend. Being a daughter is all I know how to be and even I am unable to do that correctly at times.”

“There isn’t a right or wrong way to be a daughter. Some things you can do without them being right or wrong. Just a nice middle ground for learning and growth,” I sighed at her words.  _ A middle ground?  _

“Well then, Al Dumbledore, it will be very interesting to learn how to be inside of this  _ middle ground _ you speak of.”

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Nobody’s POV

**By the time that the** two eleven year old girls made their way into the courtyard, they had chatted about almost every subject that they were familiar with. Whether it was magical creatures or the Prophet’s latest debate on magical laws, they spoke in both opinion and factual arguments that helped each other understand the way the other worked.

Making sure to not upset their relatives too much by wandering off (like they often did when not in the presence of an adult) too far, they decided that their conversation was better suited for the indoors.

Although the two fiery girls (although Gel would object to such wording, considering herself to only have a small flame inside of her soul that ignited when necessary) chatted about whatever they felt they had enough experience in to do just that, chat about, the grown ups indoors were living a much different reality. Both chatting, but about much different subject matters.

“I do believe that Gel would do well having a friend,” Minerva declared to the group of fellow Hogwarts professors and the Headmaster. “She has been alone in her practice for far too long. Constantly working on her own wandless magic alone must get lonely from time to time. I wish that I could be there to keep her company during the school months.”  
“How has that girl been doing wandless magic for so long?” Asked Professor Sprout, although Minerva would just call her Pomona. “I’ve never heard of a child taking practice in such things before their time at Hogwarts.”

“Odd, but it has happened,” Albus Dumbledore tutted, taking a sip out of his newly cleaned golden goblet. One of his favorite ones, it had been encrusted with a few dainty rubies, the color of Gryffindor and one of his favorite stones. “I am surprised that the ministry has not cracked down on her use of magic outside of Hogwarts grounds. Perhaps they are not as powerful as we once thought they were.”

None of the professors replied to his comments about the true power of the ministry, or lack thereof. To get into those details could get them a harsh reprimand from any of their government officials, or perhaps a trial for slander. Of course, the Headmaster of Hogwarts had no fear of the ministry, he had thrown those fears away once he became a teacher at the school he once went to as a young boy and young man. To him, there was no need to fear someone if there is nothing they can do to put you in harm's way.

“I’ve never heard of such a  _ gift _ for learning at such a young age,” Professor Severus Snape’s voice had not changed at all since his graduation, perhaps more monotone since the end of the second Wizarding War. His black eyes matched well with his hair, although the latter had gained quite a bit of grease since his youth. Those eyes had a layer of ice that held back what he really wanted to say. His disdain for almost any student that came into Hogwarts School was what set him apart from all of the other teachers who taught young witches and wizards during their school years. One could perhaps say that almost all of Hogwarts’ student population feared their potions master, or maybe they feared his anger and the detentions that came with his sour mood.

“I have found that we have not heard of many things, Severus. I have also found learning of the things we have not yet seen to be one of life’s most fascinating activities,” Snape had to fight back the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes at the elderly man. All of the other teachers noted their fellow professor’s sour mood and moved on with their conversations about Gelsomeana Grindelwald and her potential as a student.

“What subjects has she shown an interest in, Minerva?” asked an excited Pomona Sprout.

“Mostly Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she does like to read over her Charms textbook when she has some free time. Don’t you worry, she loves to care for some of the local Wolfsbane plants that grow around the edge of Hogsmeade. I think Gel will love what you have to teach her this year,” Minerva answered to all of the subjects that her adopted daughter liked to practice and study. Devoted and caring in her words regarding her adoptive daughter, Minerva still did wonder how she had become so powerful at the age of eleven, remembering how it was even difficult for her to remember what wolfsbane even was in her youth.

“Should she ever show any interest in dueling, you know where to find me,” joked Professor Flitwick, who remembered just how many students he had been able to recruit by watching for the very few who possessed the talent necessary for the fine art and slight sport that was dueling. He moved some of his strands of hair out of his face as he took a sip of his earl grey tea, something he would do quite often while holding conversation with his colleagues.

“Of course, Filius,” said Minerva as she finished up her meal. “I should be checking on Gel by now, to make sure she doesn’t wander off somewhere she could get hurt.”  
“Make sure to bring back my dear niece as well, she should not starve herself of food, even if she is to feed herself with your daughter’s knowledge,” Minerva nodded at the professor before exiting the Great Hall.

Both Gel and Al both spent the rest of that summer in Hogwarts, running about the castle and eating every meal together. Learning the layout of the place was not in their minds and they thirsted for the knowledge that the other had to provide. Gel with more advanced wandless magic and Al with her genuine kindness and social prowess.

Together, the two had come to become an unstoppable pair.

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	3. What a Wonderful Day to Be Sorted

Gel’s POV

**Fumbling students moved around me** as we huddled ourselves into the Great Hall. It was time. God, it was finally time to begin the sorting. With my mother calling out names faster than I could keep up, my body stuck close to the only student at Hogwarts that I knew.

Al Dumbledore had been the only friend I made, but that was mostly because we hadn’t been on the train to meet anyone else. Even if I had been on the Hogwarts Express, I doubt I would have wanted to sit with other people. Students my age weren’t at my level academically, just being at the level of the average first year. No challenges, no learning, what would I even be able to do with them? Gossip and Quidditch were not things to build a long lasting friendship on. No, those were fleeting, useless and weak. I would not have any part of me become weak, even if that meant I had little to no friends.

“Harry Potter!” Mum called out. Students all around me muttered various things.  _ Harry Potter is in our year? Harry Potter is at Hogwarts? It’s the boy who lived! I’m in the same year as the great Harry Potter! _

The boy that came up looked poorly fed and almost deathly, his skin pale and his ribs likely sticking out under his robes. If this was the boy who lived, he was not treated well in his place of residence.  _ Skinnier than a feral dog, he is. _

Sitting down at the stool, he had a mental conversation with the sorting hat, where at the end the foresight bound hat screamed, “GRYFFINDOR!”

One of the four tables, which I could recognize as the Gryffindor table, cheered happily as the boy who lived sat down at their table. For the first time I had truly seen him smile, a pure and innocent smile that showed no understanding of what he had done in his youth. I doubted that anyone had told him of his heritage, or at least not in extreme detail.  _ Imagine killing the darkest wizard of all time when you’re an infant. Could never be me, that’s for sure. _

A few more students came and went, getting all sorts of houses. All houses had at least gained one or two members. The students that had been sorted into their houses sat with their housemates, waiting for the rest of us to get sorted.  _ You’ll be fine, Gel. You’ll get a good house and you’ll be able to be friends with Al. Just not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin. _

“Gelsomeana Grindelwald!” Mum called out my name, causing my attention to turn to the sorting hat and the stool that I would have to sit down on. Walking over cautiously, I felt everyone in the school’s eyes piercing into me. My name was well known for so many things. Death, destruction, murder. One thing that we didn’t have: anyone who went to Hogwarts.

Legs shaking a bit, I sat down on the stool, waiting for the hat to say  _ anything. Please not Slytherin, hat. Anything but Slytherin. I don’t want to be a Slytherin. _

“ _Are you sure that Slytherin isn't the right place for you? Oh, that girl... You want to please her... You want to make yourself different. Power, great power awaits you. Unlike any I have sorted before. Traits from all houses, but that spark of yours… and the talent. Just like your namesake, a dragon child,_ ” The hat pondered on inside of my head. I stayed still ready for it to make the life changing decision.  
Speaking outside of my head for the first time, I wondered just how it took for it to sort me. “Better be a... GRYFFINDOR!”

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Al’s POV

Watching as Gel carefully walked down from where the ceremony was being held, I felt a pang in my heart that comforted me. My new friend would get to be in the same house as me. Even if I hadn’t been sorted, I knew that I would be a Gryffindor. There was no doubt in my mind that I was destined to be in Gryffindor house. It was what I always dreamed of and what would ultimately prove to fit me best. I wasn’t that creative and I wasn’t cunning, nor was I that accepting of new people in my life. My fire would be the best part of being in a house full of like minded individuals.  _ Oh, I can’t wait to see some of the dorms. I hope Gel and I get to be in the same dorm. Since they never change… We could be together in the dorm for the rest of our time at Hogwarts! Seven years! _

I kicked back all thoughts once I heard Professor McGonagall call out, “Ariana Dumbledore!”

_ This is my chance. This is my chance to make friends. Gryffindor. Just make Gryffindor and make your family proud. That’s all I want.  _ Thinking while walking, I find my way onto the seat, taking in a steady breath as the hat was placed on my head.  _ Please put me in Gryffindor. _

“ _ You want Gryffindor hmmm? A Dumbledore, a powerful one at that _ ,” it mused on my head. Taking a lot less time than Gel to decide, it called out, “ _ Gryffindor! _ ”

Everyone from the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers as I came down to meet them. I saw Gel and sat down right next to her, beaming with glee. Many students around the table smiled and greeted me, one student being Hermione Granger, a girl whose name I had never heard before.  _ Must be a muggleborn. I hope she wasn’t too freaked out by the introduction of magic to her normal life. Lord, being muggleborn must be hard. _

“I’m so relieved,” Gel sighed, looking at where all of our other classmates were being sorted. “I thought it would put me somewhere like Slytherin.”

“Would make sense knowing your family,” a boy with red hair and dull blue eyes muttered under his breath. “Pureblood supremacists.”

“Get your head out of your arse,” I threw one of my forks at where he was sitting. He gave me a shocked expression, which some of the other students shared as I frowned at him. “Making fun of someone because of their heritage makes you just as bad as any pureblood who hates muggleborns. Yeah, I said it, if you think that someone being from a pureblood automatically makes them bad you are just as bad. Make fun of my friend for her heritage again and I’ll make you regret it.”

Making genuine threats had always been my specialty, especially when people were being ridiculous and cruel. Gel hadn’t said  _ anything _ against muggleborns and this stupid boy had assumed that she would just because of her bloodline. It wasn’t like she could pick who her parents were! If there was one thing that I hated more than anything it was people with double standards.

“Shove off, Ronald,” said a much older student with the same bright red hair as  _ Ronald _ , “Bullying isn’t tolerated under any circumstances. Even if Dumbledore doesn’t tell the Headmaster about your behavior, I may have to owl back home to Mum.” The boy hissed under his breath and rolled his eyes at Gel and I.  _ So they’re brothers. That explains the hair and eyes. Must be the Weasley’s then. Grandpa always said that the Weasley’s were decent people, so why is he so rude? Black sheep, I guess. _

My great-uncle stood at the head of the room, making sure to gain everyone’s attention with a rough cough.

“Welcome!” he started off cheerily. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

Once my great-uncle had finished his little speech, I looked over at Gel, who was looking down at all of the new food that came with the feast. All different things that I had never had the pleasure of trying were now laid out right in front of me, tempting me in ways I never thought possible.

Digging in, I took some of the pork chops, which had always been my favorite food. Every bite got better, drawing me in to take even more than I probably needed. I didn’t care, I hadn’t eaten anything since brunch with the professors (and of course Gel) at nine in the morning. All of the teachers ate so early here, meaning that I had to in order to fit in with the house elves’ cooking schedule.

“Oh, thank you, Penny,” the red haired Prefect said to a Ravenclaw girl with platinum blonde hair. “We have the sleeping arrangements for the girls already. Five girls to a dorm, ladies, so make sure that you all get along. We don’t switch the rooms around unless something serious happens.”  
“Pavarti Patil, Hermione Granger, Gelsomeana Grindelwald, Ariana Dumbledore, and Lavender Brown will be in the first room. Hope you girls spend some time together later tonight,” I didn’t listen to the next list of girls’ names that were listed, only looking at Gel and smiling. We had already been sleeping in the first room of the Gryffindor girl’s tower, so we wouldn’t have to be moving our bags anytime soon. _I hope none of them wanted the bed by the window. I study better next to a light source._

“I’ll tell you boys where you’re sleeping once the Headmaster finishes up his last speech of the day. Hopefully this year he doesn’t go off on the dangers of dark magic’s role in ruining your friendships like he did last year. I swore he was going to tear up by the end of it,” Percy noted, looking down at his food and continuing to eat what was left on his plate.

The dessert that had been served looked absolutely delicious. My favorite had to be the eclairs that had custard filling and chocolate peppermint shavings on top. Nothing I could buy at Honeydukes with my birthday money compared to this.  _ The house elves here really know what they’re doing. _

Most of the students had finished up their desserts when they disappeared. My great-uncle rose from his seat once more and said, “Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.”

A pair of identical twins fought back the urge to laugh at his words, my uncle’s gaze meeting where they were sitting for just a few seconds before turning his attention back to everyone in the room.

“I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

“And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death,” A few students let out awkward laughs and some even gave our Headmaster shocked looks.  _ Looks like this place is crawling with something worse than Peeves the Poltergeist. _

“He’s not serious,” Harry muttered to Percy.

“Must be. It’s odd because he usually gives us a reason why we’re not allowed to go somewhere - the forest’s full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I think he might have told us Prefects at least,” Percy’s voice was low as he looked up to my uncle, who was still standing up, waiting for everyone to calm down.

“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song! Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!” My great-uncle flicks his wand to go along with the words. I mutter everything that I say, still keeping a decent tune:

  
“ _ Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, _

_ Teach us something please, _

_ Whether we be old and bald, _

_ Or young with scabby knees, _

_ Our heads could do with filling, _

_ With some interesting stuff, _

_ For now they're bare and full of air, _

_ Dead flies and bits of fluff, _

_ So teach us things worth knowing, _

_ Bring back what we've forgot, _

_ Just do your best, we'll do the rest, _

_ And learn until our brains all rot. _ ”

I had finished quite quicker than most of my fellow students. The pair of twins that my uncle was looking at before finished last, their voices low and sounding near dead as they finished the song. Honestly, it sounded like they were singing for a funeral choir.

After getting away from Peeves and getting up the stairs to our dorm room, we were given time to get ready for bed. Of course, I would be staying up for a while longer, just as most of us would be. My nerves were on fire, excited to finally be at school. Today was the perfect day that I had longed for all of my life. Well, nearly perfect, considering the Weasley boy was rude to Gel. If that hadn’t happened, it would have been perfect.  _ Perfect isn’t what we need. All we need is near-perfect and we’ll be fine. _

“Wait, stuff is already in here? Who already set their stuff up?” Lavender questioned, looking at my bed.

“Al and I stayed here over the summer. We’ve been in this room for a while now,” Gel said coldly, clearly not wanting to be questioned any further. Her voice cut deep, unwavering as she lit up two candles up on her desk with wandless magic. One of the girls that we would be sharing a dorm with gasped at the display of magic. “Just make sure you don’t knock any of your candles over when you use them.”

“We aren’t supposed to have matches in the rooms,” Lavender reminds my friend, sitting down on an empty bed. “How did you do that? With the flames, I mean.”

“Not all magic needs a wand. Sometimes you just have to want it bad enough. You control the magic, the magic does not control you. Make sure that you are the one who wields the magic inside of you,” Gel told the questioning girl, her voice cold and commanding as she spoke. Brown nodded slowly before slowing setting some of her bags on an empty bed.

Gel’s tone of voice sounded so alien. No longer was she the fun-loving and kind person I had met months ago. Brown not knowing much about non-verbal spells could be chalked up to lack of caring or ignorant parents, but it didn’t seem like Gel took it the same way as I did. It wasn’t that she sounded particularly judgemental, just annoyed that she had to explain away something she found very simple. With a mother who’s a Hogwarts teacher like Professor McGonagall, Gel probably learned all of these things very young.

“I’ll have to look into it,” Granger announced before shuffling through some of her schoolbooks.  _ She’s more of a Ravenclaw, isn’t she? Maybe she’s brave. That would do it.  _

Shifting some of my magic towards candles of my own, I sat down on my bed and waited for everyone to settle in. Gel had one of her books in her hand as she glanced over at me, watching me as I grabbed a book of my own. Our eyes met for a second and I looked away, embarrassed that I had been caught looking.  _ Get a hold of yourself, Al. This is your friend, you shouldn’t be so awkward around her. _

Try as I may, the awkward feeling deep down in my chest persisted.

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Gel’s POV

**Talking with the new girls** in our room proved to be a much more difficult task than I once thought. With no good social skills of my own to use in everyday conversation, I found myself only able to talk about magic, which seemed to work to impress Granger and Brown, but not Patil. The brown-skinned girl paid no mind to my magical efforts, often brushing them off as normal and mundane.

“Did you really not suspect that you were a witch?” Brown asked Granger, who nodded her head.  _ Such an odd thing. How has she not blown something up in a fit of anger? Even I lose control of my magic sometimes.  _ “How would that work, being in a muggle family? What are they like? I don’t know any muggles myself, since I am a pureblood from a long line of witches and wizards.”

“Just like any normal family, really. Mum and Dad are great. They work as dentists,” my eyes blinked multiple times, showing my clear confusion. “Working on teeth. It was a bit of a shock when we all found out about magic and sorts, but they want to understand more about this world. Very supportive of all wizards and witches.”

“How do you clean things?” Patil asked her. “Wouldn’t it get tiring, cleaning everything by hand? Mum and Dad made us clean by hand as  _ punishment _ . Wands would be much more efficient and less tiring.”

“I clean up after every meal at home. It really isn’t that bad,” I shake my head and stick my head back into my book. “What, Grindelwald, you don’t think so? What book is that?”

“Isn’t that the fifth year potions book?” Brown asks, leaning over to see what I was reading.

“Yes, this is the  _ fifth year  _ potions book. I find that getting ahead is better than falling behind. Mum leant it to me and said I can have it until the end of term unless I mess with things I cannot control yet.”

Not paying much attention to what went on afterwards, I read through some of the minor spells and their incantations.  _ Just get through the night. I can spend time with Al, alone, tomorrow. I hope I won’t have to spend much time with new people. One week to get settled in to this place some more before classes start up. I wonder what students will be doing when not in their classes. Mum never told me much about how Hogwarts really runs. Must be some things for us to do besides staying in the library. _

Chatter between Patil, Granger, and Brown persisted through the night, even after I had gone to bed. They spoke about so many different things that I couldn’t keep up, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

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**Waking up at seven, sharp** as usual, I tumbled out of my bed, hitting the floor with a loud  _ thunk _ . I heard a few of the girls around me giggle as I groaned, sitting myself on the floor and frowning.  _ I hate getting up more than anything. Why can’t I just stay in bed forever? That would be much more agreeable. _

“Having fun down there, Gel?” Al joked, helping me off the hardwood floor. I groaned and rubbed off some of the dust that had collected on the bottoms of my nightwear.  _ Guess I’ll have to clean those later.  _ “Well, if you get yourself together quick enough we can make the 7:30 breakfast.”

“Sounds great, but do you know if they have good eggs today or not?” my friend shrugged before handing me one of my everyday shirts. Groaning once more, I passed over the many options in my wardrobe. Trousers would be the best way for me to go. Skirts were not something I would let anyone see me in, even if it meant royally pissing off certain teachers. All of my school clothes had been altered to allow me to wear what I found most comfortable, men’s trousers.

Putting together an outfit that included the shirt Al had given over to me, the two of us walked out the door, saying a few goodbyes to the girls that were waiting for the later breakfasts and brunches.

Walking down the hall of our school, I saw so many different faces that I had not noticed during the sorting ceremony. Kids likely a few years older and the same age as us passed by, one girl with light blonde hair and icy blue eyes even running into Al at one point. The older Hufflepuff girl apologized and met up with one of her friends, whose name I had learned was Cedric Diggory.

Making our way into the Great Hall on time, we both sat down next to each other at the Gryffindor table, which was now filling up with our housemates. All of the Weasleys, or the ones that had made their way through Hogwarts’ door that year, found themselves sitting near each other in some way, with the oldest boy scolding the identical twins that I had figured out had a knack for troublemaking.

The table was neither empty nor crowded, a fine grey area for people like Al and I. Many of the students turned their heads to look at the two of us, but I paid them no attention. Most were just kids in our year that likely wanted to know who their fellow students were. The older students that gave me small, piercing glares were all from Slytherin house, with one boy with sickly looking yellowish skin and even yellower teeth even spitting in my direction.  _ Right, you’re a pureblood in Gryffindor, they hate that. Whatever, that just means I’m a better person than they’ll ever be. Damn inbred fools. _

Harry Potter made his way into our area, sticking near the same Weasley boy that had insulted me and my family name the night before. His eyes were still on me as he sat down, picking up some toast and putting it harshly on his plate, never completely tearing his eyes away from my body as I tried to make the best of the situation.  _ Good lord, stop looking at me like that. You look like some of those Slytherin gits you hate so much. _

“Good morning, Grindelwald, Dumbledore,” Harry greeted us politely, a smile grazing onto his face. “Have you gotten your classes yet?”

“Unfortunately, no, but I assume that Weasley or any of our other Prefects will be giving them to us soon,” I reply, taking a small bite out of the egg I had put on my plate.

While on that same note of conversation, said Weasley boy came over to give us our school schedules for the first term. “Make sure that if you have any wish to change your schedule you either come to me or to Professor McGonagall. None of the other teachers will take your requests and the Headmaster will be busy with other things during the weeks. On here will also list the Headmaster’s office hours if you have any urgent concerns. Of course you are always welcome to come to me or any of our other Prefects, but he is also open when he has time.”

The younger Weasley simply groaned before taking his schedule from his brother.  _ God, be nice to him for one second, you buffoon, he just gave you what you need to survive at Hogwarts this year.  _

“Thank you, Weasley,” he smiles and hands me my schedule. “Come on, we need to see if we have any classes together this term, Gel.”

“If we don't, I can bug my uncle and you can bug your mum,” we both laughed as we exchanged pieces of parchment that held the very important information. “Ooh, we do have the same classes! Has Granger come down yet? We should see if she has any classes with us as well.”

“Can I see?” I handed my schedule over to Potter, “Transfiguration, Astronomy, Flying Lessons, and Potions. Everything else is opposite.”

“Well then, I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in class, Potter,” Al said kindly. The boy blushed and walked away with Weasley, who was just rolling his eyes at me as he left with his friend. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Potter doesn’t seem stuck up at all.”

“Better than that Weasley boy, I’m telling you.”

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	4. Broken Rules and Broken Noses

**By the time we had** made it into the first day of school, I had realized just how disconnected some of the houses here at Hogwarts were when it came to talking outside of their houses. Slytherins  _ never _ spoke to the Gryffindors, as if they had the plague or something. It was a shame considering that most of the other members of the school had no problems with our house. This went both ways, with many of the Gryffindors sneering in the direction of Slytherins and muttering nasty words under their breath when a member of the house of the snake was around. The entire atmosphere surrounding the school was amazing apart from the anger that laced my house and Slytherin’s interactions.

Most of the students at my school had mainly their own house in their friend group, which made sense since that was who you had the most classes with. Hufflepuffs could be seen mixing with Gryffindors and Ravenclaws could often be seen spending their time studying with the Slytherins, but that was about it when it came to mixing houses.

The first day of term had been one that I would always remember. Harry Potter came in late to his first class, which just so happened to be Transfiguration with my Mum. The boy who lived was shocked to find out that my Mum was in fact an animagus, a cat to be more specific. I had grown accustomed to seeing her while she was still in cat form, often finding her running around as a means of exercise.

We spent our time in class learning various different things, one of which being how to turn a match into a needle. Only a few students succeeded by the end of the class period, Al and I being one of those very few students. In a class of maybe fifty, only about four of us could perform the spell after taking meticulous notes on the matter at hand.

Mum made sure to give us quite a large load of homework to complete, no doubt scaring some of her students on the first day. We had to write a small essay on how to turn a match into a needle, writing observations down as we did so. No doubt many of my classmates would be unable to perform the spell alone, likely needing help from older students or friends.

Al and I had double potions with Slytherin class today, which meant that we would be spending our time with the man who had harassed us both when we came to Hogwarts during the summer. The man, Professor Snape, gave me the creeps, like he was hiding some untold secret within those dark robes of his.

His voice alone was enough to put a dent in your day, monotone and straight to the point. I had found him to be the worst type of Slytherin imaginable. With coal eyes and even darker clothing, there was nothing light about him, nothing to give us the impression that he even cared about what he was teaching.

Carefully walking into the classroom, I could already see Snape glaring at me.  _ I don’t like you either, so get your stupid and boring eyes off of the back of my skull before they end up in YOUR skull, you angry old man. _

The dungeons of Hogwarts were likely the scariest place you could possibly have class and still be relatively safe. Even what I had heard about going into the safer part of the forbidden forest for Care of the Magical Creatures class couldn’t begin to compare to the doom and gloom that this classroom held. It smelt of not only failed potions but tears of agony, likely from the students who had failed said potions during their time here. My body screamed at me to leave, but I had to be here for the sake of my grade.  _ Oh whatever, I could just take the test and pass, maybe even do better than pass. Stupid Snape and his stupid large nose. Shove it up your arse, you bastard. _

“Gel,” I turned myself to face Al, who had called me. “What kind of wand do you have? I never cared to ask.”

“Walnut wood with dragon heartstring core, thirteen and a half inches. Ollivander said it was unyielding, which may work out best in the end. I wouldn’t want someone getting a hold of my wand,” I explained.

“Mine also has a dragon heartstring core, although mine is Cedar. Ollivander said my wand could be hard to win over since it’s literally  _ hard _ , but it’s been working fine for me so far. Only ten inches, but it looks nice,” I laughed as she brought out her wand. Looking over my shoulder, I could see some students snickering from the back of the room.

Both Crabbe and Goyle, two students who had taken much pleasure in making snide remarks about my origins.  _ Tough looks from the sons of Death Eaters. _

“Don’t mind them, Gel, they’re just jealous because you have all of the female attention,” Al snarked, glaring at the two boys who sat in the back of the room. They let out growls before turning their heads away from me, instead waiting for the professor to start the lesson.

Professor Snape started off just as every other teacher had done before, but stopping once he got to the name of the century.

“Ah yes, Harry Potter. Our new-  _ celebrity _ ,” his voice was just as monotone as it was months prior. Snape looked at Al and I, “Ariana Dumbledore and  _ Gelsomeana Grindelwald _ .”

“My name is  _ Al _ ,” my friend corrected. Snape shoved all of the words I assumed he wanted to spew at Al and began teaching his lesson.

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, senaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you aren’t as big of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

Why he had become a teacher when he obviously hated anything that had to do with the  _ subtle science and exact art  _ that is  _ teaching _ , I had no clue. Silence, however, fell over the classroom right after he had finished his little  _ speech _ .

“Potter!” Snape exclaimed, looking at the young boy who sat not too far from me. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Most of our class had no idea what he was on about, but I thanked my mother for telling me. _ Just your average Draught of Living Death, Professor Arsehole. Why are you picking on the poor kid who doesn’t know the answer? Like, do you get a rush off of hurting children? Why does Dumbledore even keep you? Maybe there’s nobody else to do the job. You should be fired just for this. _

“I don’t know, sir,” Snape’s mouth turned to a sneer at Potter’s words.

“Tut, tut- fame clearly isn’t everything,” he gave Potter a knowing glare before continuing, “Let’s try again, Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”

By this point, Hermione’s hand was raised high in the air, also knowing the answer.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming, eh, Potter?” Now he was just plain antagonizing the boy, and perhaps Granger, who obviously knew the answers to his questions and desperately wanted to answer them. “What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

“I don’t know,” Harry whispered just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “I think Hermione does, though, why don’t you try her?”

Quite a few of our classmates laughed, including Al, who had to hold her hand over her mouth so as to not cause a scene. It was clear that Snape had been pushed over the edge already with this comment made by the boy who lived.

“Sit down,” Snape snapped at Hermione. “For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren’t you all copying that down?”

The entire class, besides myself and Al, rummaged for their quills and ink to write down what the professor had just said. Snape gave me a look and I gave him one right back, not willing to be bullied by someone with such an ugly nose and terrible personality. If I was to be  _ bullied _ by anyone, I would rather it be someone with at least a few friends to back them up in their harassment. Snape was alone, therefore he was weak and useless.

“And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter,” Snape drawled out, starting to work on some of his things while we all got our stuff out.

For the entire class period, Snape had found a way to harass all of us, even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who hadn’t done anything wrong.  _ This is too this, that is too that. _ He always had something to complain about when it came to our potions, or rather, everyone else’s potions. Our potion was perfection, the right color and everything. Once he got around to Al and I’s, he huffed and tried to say something that even shocked me.

“Funny to think that the daughter of one of the professors at this school and the great-niece of Albus Dumbledore himself would result to  _ cheating _ ,” Snape sneered out the blatant lie in front of everyone else, who knew that he was lying about our potion. We had witnesses to prove that we had done what we were supposed to without the use of anything else other than what he provided us.

Snape just wanted a reason to hate us, to hate everything about us. Cheating was the best way to strip us of our integrity, which I cared about. In trying to strip our own integrity by lying, he had stooped low and strippd himself of his. He was a lying, scheming, cunning bastard who I wanted nothing to do with. If we had any other potions master I would wish to be taught by them, not this guy who thinks he’s better than everyone.

I took this as an opportunity to get back at the slimy man who I had grown to hate. “Funny to think that a professor of Hogwarts school would result to  _ lying _ about one of their student’s potions just because they can’t find something to complain about. Neither of us cheated, professor, you’re just upset that we did it right. Funny that you became a professor only to insult eleven year olds. Let me guess, someone didn’t love you enough as a child.”

The rest of our class took a moment of silence to process what I had just said back to the angry professor, who looked me dead in the eye and said,

“You’ll do nothing great for this world. You’ll only mess it up for everyone just like your Grandfather.”

At that, I did something I never thought I would do to a professor.

I punched Professor Snape in the face.

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Al’s POV  
 **At that moment, I thought** that I was dreaming. My best friend had actually _punched Snape_ in the face. _The face._

His nose and lip started to bleed as students gasped all around at her brash actions. There was no doubt in my mind that she would be sent up straight to my uncle and her mother, who would have to decide disciplinary actions. McGonagall was strict, but she must know how bad Snape is. Someone must have complained during their time at Hogwarts. There was no way that not everyone knew just how big of an arse Severus Snape is.

“GO TO YOUR MOTHER'S OFFICE RIGHT NOW!” Snape shouted at my friend, “YOU TOO, DUMBLEDORE! GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM IMMEDIATELY AND GO SEE YOUR UNCLE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU TWO HAVE DONE!”

“ _ Gladly _ ,” Gel sneered at the man in front of her, who had a handkerchief on his face to stop the bleeding. “You’re a failure of a teacher, you bastard.”

I had never heard Gel swear at someone. She was always so calm and collected. Now she was angry, fury fuming through her veins as she practically dragged me out of the classroom with her, students watching in awe as we left.

There was nobody in the hall but a few students who had their free periods. Some of them were older Gryffindors. Actually, one of them was Percy Weasley, one of our Prefects.

“Grindelwald, Dumbledore, what are you doing out of class? Do you have a pass?” He asked in a hurried tone.

“Snape sent us to McGonagall’s,” I explained, “He yelled at us to get out so we just left. I’m sorry that we don’t have a pass, I would have asked for one but I doubt he would write us one. He was pretty pissed when we left.”

“May I ask what happened? I will have to escort you two since you don’t have a pass,” He insisted. Gel stayed silent, but nodded.

“He insulted Gel and basically said she would be the next Gellert Grindelwald, so she punched him in the face. I think she broke his nose and busted his lip open,” Percy’s mouth went agape as we walked towards the office. When we made our way inside, my uncle was sitting at one of the chairs in McGonagall’s office, eating a sherbert lemon.

“What seems to be the matter, Al?” he asks politely, looking at Gel. “She seems quite angry, doesn’t she? Sit down and we can speak about the matter. Your mother should be coming in soon, Gel, she only left to go grab some paperwork. May I ask what it was that made you this angry?”

“Snape,” was all Gel said as she sat down on one of the many chairs in the room. My uncle nodded in understanding and handed her a sherbert lemon that he had stuffed in one of his cloak pockets. She accepted the candy and ate it, not smiling as she usually would have.  _ Why did he have to say something like that? Who says something like that to an eleven year old? We’re first years, not even teenagers! He’s cruel! _

Minerva McGonagall walked in a few moments later, took a good look at her daughter, and gave her a hug. “Oh, Gel, what happened to you? Are you hurt? Do we need Pomfrey?”

“I think Snape is more in need of Madam Pomfrey, Professor,” I muttered, looking at my friend with a sad expression. “Stupid Snape.”

“What did that man do to my child, Albus?” She questions the Headmaster, who simply shrugs. McGonagall looked back at her daughter. “Gel, what did he do? Did he say-”

The professor was cut off by an angry Snape barging into the room, his nose not fixed yet and still bleeding. McGonagall glared at her fellow professor and paid him no mind as she looked over her daughter, making sure that she was physically okay. Uncle hummed and gave Snape a weary look as he saw the look of anger plastered on his face.

“It seems that we have a case of a fight, Minerva,” Uncle pieces together, “I would like to know the full story of how this fight between Severus and your daughter started. It does not seem as if Gel is hurt, only Severus, so one would assume that it was Gel who initiated the fight, but harsh words may have been spoken beforehand to bring them to this means of solving an issue.”

“Snape was the one to insult her first,” I explain, “He said that we cheated on our potion even though he knew that we didn’t. He had gone around complaining about everyone else’s but when he came to ours he  _ knew _ that it was perfect and claimed we cheated! Gel called him out on it and he…”

“Yes, Al?” My uncle beckoned me, “What more did he say after that?”

“This is not necessary!” Snape exclaimed, “This girl attacked me! She should be expelled immediately! She is not worthy-”

“My daughter is most definitely  _ worthy _ ,” Minerva snapped.

“Yes, yes,” Uncle tutted, “Now, what more did he say after that, dear?”

“He said ‘ _ You’ll do nothing great for this world. You’ll only mess it up for everyone just like your Grandfather _ ’,” Gel’s mother gasped as she heard what Snape said to her own daughter. “So she punched him in the face for saying something like that. I would have done it as well.”

“I am afraid that I would have also in my youth,” My Uncle admits, letting out a sigh, “Severus, this kind of behavior is abhorrent coming from the mouth of an educator of our youth, who are impressionable and can be affected by your words. It seems that I have heard all sides of the conversation, and will be able to make an accurate assessment of what happened and why it happened. I am very disappointed that you had to rely on something that she could not control, her parentage in this case, to try and manipulate her emotionally. Should I hear of something like this again, you will be dismissed from your teaching duties.”

“She cannot speak back to me the way that she did!” Snape claims, “She claimed that I wasn’t  _ loved enough _ as a child!”

“From this behavior of yours, she would be right to assume so,” Uncle snarks. “Let us be done with this. Fifteen points shall be given to Gryffindor, for Gel’s courage to stand up for herself even when being attacked by a teacher.”

“Ten points should be taken from Gryffindor!”

“Ten points shall be taken, but from Slytherin, as that is the house you were in as a child.”

“I am a teacher-”

“Act like a child, Severus, get treated like a child.”

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The amount of time that Gel’s mum took making sure that her little girl was okay astounded me. From what I had seen, Minerva McGonagall was a strict and rule-oriented woman, but it seemed like I had been proven wrong. She dashed over to her daughter with a caring face and gave her sweets that she had been saving from Honeydukes, even giving me a pumpkin pasty since I helped get her daughter off scott-free.

When she finally calmed down a little, Gel started in on her homework for the day. All of her teachers had been notified of what happened and warned them that if she pleased she wouldn’t have to do her homework, but Gel continued on anyway, even helping me with some of mine. Her mother was proud that she was so dedicated, but warned her not to overwork herself, as what had gone on could be considered quite traumatic.

Arriving in the Great Hall the next day, many students had crowded over at our side of the Gryffindor table, many of whom having either seen the spectacle of the day before or having heard about it from someone who had been in the class. Before, most of the students avoided the two of us, either too scared or unbothered to make conversation with the two girls with huge legacies to follow. Now, students in all years were huddling up to us, wanting to hear our side of the story.

I didn’t think it would be too bad, but Gel hadn’t a clue of how to handle such newfound fame, sticking to my arm as we ate our breakfast.

“How did you do something like that, Grindelwald? It was  _ amazing _ ,” Finnigan said, gawking at my best friend. “I’m so glad you two are in Gryffindor.”

“Stop harassing our housemate, Seamus,” Potter said, “That was brilliant, Grindelwald. I thought we were all too chicken to stand up to Snape. I think he hates me.”

“Damned bastard hates everyone, Potter, just remember that. Hit him where it hurts,” She rubbed her nose, “Yeah, the nose worked pretty well. Stupid git got it fixed last night. I wish that Mum didn’t let him get it fixed. Should have let that man let it heal the Muggle way.”

“You care about Muggles?” It was stupid Weasley again, who had come to grab his friend for something.

“You forget that I was raised by a half-blood witch who made sure that I did. Plus, they are quite handy with their little technologies,” she snarks back. “Not every pureblood is like their ancestors. If they were, you would be a pureblood supremacist if you go back far enough. Times have changed, how about you do as well. Being prejudiced against someone because of their blood status is bad anyway, so how about you get your pureblood hating arse and go somewhere else?”

“You’re a bloody Grindelwald-” I cut him off.

“It doesn't matter what my last name is and it never will. Nobody seems to have cared for the past ten years, so why would you all take notice of the Grindelwald running through the hallways now? It just looks like you're looking for a reason to not like me. I can understand that. You are quite weak and I must intimidate you,” Weasley growls at my friend as she tears him a new one. “Potter, take this idiot away before he gets the Snape treatment.”

“Come on, Ron, leave her alone, she hasn’t done anything bad,” Potter says as he leaves the table, Weasley trailing after him.

“He’s gonna have to get used to yeh,” Seamus comments, “Cause you’re cooler than him.”

“Thank you, Seamus, thank you.”

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3rd Person POV

**It wasn’t long before the** two girls with different pasts grew a small following of people who were friendly towards them in the hallways. These people, from all houses (even Slytherin), would help them whenever they needed. For the next few weeks, no teacher dared to question Gelsomeana Grindelwald and Ariana Dumbledore as they chatted away about anything they could, even when they did so in class. The fear that what happened to Snape would happen to them was astounding.

A student taking on Severus Snape was not something that had happened much. Before his career as a Hogwarts professor, perhaps, but while at his desk drawing on about bits and bobs and potions, he was unquestioned by all.

In where Albus Dumbledore kept all of his favorite belongings was his office, which he made sure was locked up with a password to open it. In here, the older man sat, petting Fawkes as he waited for his meeting with Minerva McGonagall, his former student and longtime friend.

When the mother came in, she smiled at her friend. It had been a long standing friendship that lasted through thick and thin. 

Oh, for they had fought through the first Wizarding War together, the very same one where Alyona Grindelwald had betrayed her trust and became a Death Eater. How it broke Minerva’s heart to see such a lovely woman turn to the dark side, but her heart was pieced back together at the sight of the one year old girl she had left to her. A woman who had never had children finally had a child of her own, and she would make sure that Gelsomeana Grindelwald II had a loving environment to flourish inside.

“Albus,” Minerva addressed him, sitting down at one of the many chairs in the room, “You called me to speak to you? What is on your mind?”

“Your daughter,” Minerva frowned. Of course the Headmaster would have interest in her daughter, for she had shown great potential from an early age. “All good thoughts, I promise. How has she been doing in your class?”

“Outstanding as always,” it was one of those short answers that one gives when they do not wish to elaborate further. They were uncommon between the two, but Albus knew why she had given one.

“Gel has shown herself to be an outstanding witch even at the age of eleven,” Minerva took in a deep breath, not knowing where he was going with this. “If I didn’t know better, I would think that you had been teaching her magic from the time she came into your care.”

“You do know better, Albus,” she replied.

“That I do,” He tutted, taking a sherbert lemon from his stash, “I only wish to ask you if she has shown any violent outbursts like the one with Severus before.”

“Of course not, Albus, Gel has never shown any anger towards anyone like that before! I have never seen or heard of her hurting anything or anyone. It is not in her nature to do so,” Albus nodded, thinking of what to say next.

“You must understand my worry, Minerva, for you know as well as I do how a parentage can affect a child,” sighing, Minerva’s face kept it’s disappointed frown at the idea that one  _ Gellert Grindelwald _ could have an affect on  _ her _ Gelsomeana. To be quite frank, she thought the idea understandable in her head and ridiculous in her heart.

“She did not grow up in an environment that allows for dark magic, Albus, she would never… even if she had Gel would never think of using dark or dangerous magic. Severus provoked her in a way she had never been provoked before, it was simply a reactionary response. My daughter was very upset, even yesterday in class,” the Headmaster nodded at the woman. His deepest fears had been placated.

For now.


	5. Page 172

Gel’s POV

**Ever since I had stood** up to Professor Snape in what was likely the most memorable moment of my first year, students didn’t stop asking me things about myself. I had come to be grateful to all of Ravenclaw house, as they asked the least invasive questions. Even Slytherins were asking me questions. It had become quite tiring, being popular and all. I wished that I could go back to the time before that week long period of time where student’s didn’t beg me for help on their homework or didn’t actually want to know anything about me.

My wishes were selfish, I knew that. Most students wanted nothing more than to be recognized, but all I seemed to want was to go back into my shadow. Al had been working with me on socially developing, but even she couldn’t help me when it came to actually keeping a conversation going with someone not in my house or year.

Unfortunately my way of thinking was not only underdeveloped but limited, as relating to people was harder than I would have expected. Social skills did not come easily and I often cut conversations off with excuses rather than remain in a fervent mood of discomfort.

“Al, we must be getting to potions,” I called out to my friend, who was talking up some older Gryffindor boys. The Weasley twins, by the color of their hair. It was uncommon to find a witch or wizard with red hair, and currently the school only had a select few families with the color running rampant. In Gryffindor, it was the Weasleys, in Hufflepuff, it was the Lost family. Although one girl did not have the same color of hair, with hers being brown like her mother, Mrs. Lost.

“Ooh, Dumbledore, is that Grindelwald calling after you?” One of the boys teased.

“Shush, Fred,” Al looked back over at me, “I’ll be over there in a second!”

It was not a second, rather a whole fifteen minutes of conversation and banter between the two fellow troublemakers.

While I waited, I pulled out the extra long essay that Snape had assigned, looking it over for any potential wrong answers that Snape would beat me up for later in class. The man wanted to hurt me in any way that he could, but it seemed that every time he harassed me Mum would walk in the room, almost as if she had a fifth sense for Snape-bullshit. No matter what class she was supposed to be teaching, she found herself inside of my potions class, making sure that all was well in the dungeons. Of course, sometimes things were not well and she would have to call Snape outside for a chat, which became more of an argument if anything.

The entire school knew by now that Snape and McGonagall were fighting like mad. They didn’t do much to cover it up. Some students had even gone so far as to make bets on when and if they would start a duel in the middle of the school year. Mum would never stoop so low as to start a duel, but it would not be beyond Snape to go lower than Hell in order to smear my name into the mud.

“Sorry about that,” Al apologized, ready to walk with me to class, the same class that I had gotten in trouble in not but a month prior. “The twins just wanted to know if we would be interested in getting in even more trouble. I said maybe.”

“Not even surprised,” she laughed as we walked into the dungeons classrooms, seeing Snape eying us up and down while filing some paperwork. “Ok, so since we have our essays done already, do you think that we could stay up tonight? Mum bought me some candy to share and we have no more homework left for the next few days.”

“No food in the dormitories,” Snape said callously. “Unless you wish for detention.”

“Mum said that we’re allowed food in our common room and dormitories. Gryffindor has different rules, Snape,” he rolled his eyes but didn’t combat me. Some of my fellow Gryffindors silently cheered at the new knowledge.

Snape had been pushing out disinformation about the Hogwarts rules for some time now, which didn’t surprise Mum when I asked her about the actual rules at our school. Food was allowed until you abused the privilege, which the Gryffindor boys had done in years past. Magic, as long as you knew what you were doing, was allowed as well. Students sometimes liked to do their homework in the common room rather than the library, especially for their louder incantations.

Slytherin had much different rules. No food, no electronics (which would never be used by its pureblood inhabitants anyways), no music, no snogging. It seemed like quite a drab place to spend seven years of your life, especially the snogging rule. I haven’t snogged anyone and I doubt I would like to until I’m a teenager, but romance is a part of life and Snape was… ruining it for his students.

“Get out your textbooks!” Snape said suddenly, startling a few of the Hufflepuffs in the classroom. “Now! Page 172! Write a three foot long essay on why the herbicide potion should not be drunk by the potion maker and what the fifteen main side effects are. Due in two days!”

I knew what Snape was trying to do. He knew that Al and I wanted to hang out, so he tried to ruin that for us as well.  _ Good for you, Snape. I already know all of this crap and will be finishing it the night before it’s due. Should have made it due tomorrow if you wanted to ruin all of my fun. You aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed, idiot professor. Slimy bastard. _

“But Professor Snape, we have a Herbology assignment on practically the same thing due tomorrow,” Neville pointed out. Snape gave him an evil look of loathing.

“Well I guess you’ll just have the information at your disposal, won’t you, Mr. Longbottom?” Neville didn’t say anything back and quickly got out his supplies, looking down at his parchment that would have to be filled up with words by the end of the week. _ Great on you, Snape, Neville is great in Herbology. _

“No speaking, no stomping, and no eating candy while writing these essays of mine. One speck of food and you will get a Troll for this term,” I rolled my eyes, causing him to walk up to my desk. “Do you find not focusing on your classwork to be funny, Miss Grindelwald?”

“Of course not, professor,” I mocked, pouting and looking down at my own roll of parchment. Several students around me giggled but continued to start on their assignments.

Snape did not address me for the rest of the class period.

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**Yes, there was a time** and a place for everything, but did I know that before upsetting Snape once again after school one day? No.

It sounded like a good plan at first, but I soon realized that even I could not combat such an angry Snape on my own. What we did, you may ask?

We snuck into his potions classroom to lay down smoke bombs that the Weasleys gave us. I won’t say that I’m sorry that we did it, but I will say that I’m very sorry we got caught in the act. Only a few points were taken away from Gryffindor house, courtesy of the word of Mum, but she did warn us to not pull something like that again.

“He could have harmed you!” Mum exclaimed as she saw the small residue of hazy grey smoke on my cheek. Wiping it off into her robes, she said, “You're worse than Potter and his group of hecklers, only bested by those Weasley boys! Good lord, how have I raised you to be your own person? Nothing like me, I constantly worry for your general well-being only to have you jump right into the lion's cave!”

“That’s all you have to say, Minerva?” Snape was fuming at the sight of his dungeons, “Your daughter has all but demolished some of the stores in here! If you accuse me of playing favorites you should be looking at the way that you baby her. She is eleven years old, not an infant!”

“What would you know about infants or eleven year olds,” Mum retorted, checking me up and down once more before kissing my head. “Go back to your rooms and make sure that you don’t set off any more of the Weasley boys’ smoke bombs while inside.”

“You won’t even give her detention?” Snape questions. “After all that she has done, detention is what she deserves. Not only will you not let me take points off her essays for not writing her full name, which is a reasonable request, you won’t let me do my duties as a teacher in laying out punishment!”

Mum straightened her robes before waving her wand, throwing Snape out of her office and into the hallway. My face paled at the display of magic and quickly walked out of the room with Al right by my side. Snape was up off the floor in a second, wiping off his robes as he did so. Students, teachers, and ghosts alike looked at the three of us in the hallway. I smiled before running off with Al, the only person I could trust in that moment to not judge me as we ran down the corridor.

Unfortunately, we bumped into the Weasley twins on the way back to our dorm.

“What are you two doing?” they said at the same time, grabbing us by our cloaks, “Running down the halls? Percy’ll get you if you even try!”

“I would watch out for Snape,” Al said as she tried to wrangle her way out of their grasp. I stayed still, eyes blinking in annoyance. “He’ll be pissed with you. I think he knows it was your stuff that ruined his classroom.”

“Did we get away with it?” Fred asked, “Cause I have a date this Saturday.”

“And why was I not informed of this?” George questions his brother. “Freddie you naughty boy.”

“Shove off, Georgie.”

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**Hanging out with Al on** the weekends was most definitely the best part of Hogwarts so far. Even after all of the bullshit we had to deal with during potions class we found a way to have loads of fun learning about whatever we could get our hands on.

We were lucky to have the school library to find and check out books on all sorts of magical beasts. Newt Scamander’s book, one that I had read multiple times over during the summers before Hogwarts, was one of my favorites and would always be.

A Magical Beasts class would be the best class for me to take since I knew so much about them already. Mum made sure that I studied up before even coming to Hogwarts. Plus, the curriculum at Hogwarts was said to be quite good.

"Do you think that I could borrow that once you're done? I would love to read up on some of the creatures in there," I nodded, flipping the page. "Wait, is that...?"

"Just an Acromantula. Wonder if any live near here. I would think they would be quite scary. Scared of Basilisks, but you wouldn't want to be near those either," Al shivered dramatically to which I laughed, "Best to not be near any dangerous magical beasts during our time here. Better to stay alive for a few more years."

"You sound like you're expecting these beasts to be roaming around the castle," I shrugged.

"Honestly, knowing how few regulations Hogwarts really has when it comes to beasts and magic, finding a Basilisk roaming around the place wouldn't surprise me. Salazar Slytherin did like snakes, didn't he? Doesn't he have a  _ chamber _ with a  _ dangerous monster _ inside? The lore of the school makes it obvious to piece things together, don't you think?" Al rolled her eyes and fell back into the recliner in the Gryffindor Common room.

"We'll just have to see how things turn out. I think our time at Hogwarts will be fun. Imagine it, fifth year helping students with their O.W.Ls and spells. We could even make a little club," I laughed at the idea and closed my book.

At that moment Ron Weasley and Harry Potter came into the Common Room. Harry smiled and waved at the two of us but Ron just rolled his eyes and went up to their dorm room. I still couldn't figure out why Ron hated me so much. I had given him no real reason to, but perhaps my blood status and parentage could explain more than one reason to despise me.

Just like Severus Snape, Ron Weasley hated people with no good reason.

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Al's POV

**Heading back into our dorm** room had been a treat. Hermione was situated on her bed, studying away for the Transfiguration test we had tomorrow. Unfortunately Lavender was being much too loud for her liking, which meant yet another fight had broken out in our living space.

"Why can't you just be a bit quieter?" Hermione pressed, her head trying to wrap itself around the situation at hand. The problem was quite simple and the solution even simpler, but Lavender was unwilling to make less noise while Hermione tried to study. In Hermione's defense, Lavender was being way too loud to even think straight, her high pitch voice mulling over inside of our heads.

"You can go to the library!" Lavender exclaimed, thinking that she had every right to be as loud as she pleased inside of our dorm.

"Just be quieter," Gel muttered into her pillow, "I'm trying to take a nap."

"It's our free period and I want to read these spells out loud before my next class!" Even I was starting to get annoyed by her voice as she spoke, "You had plenty of time to sleep last night but you stayed up late. That's your fault! Hermione can study somewhere else." 

"Shut the  _ fuck up _ ," Gel swore, giving Lavender a disgusted look, "Literally just shut the hell up. This is our room as well, not just yours. If you want to work on the crap we learned three weeks ago and should have gotten down already go to tutoring or the library. Don't bother us."

"How  _ dare  _ you?" Gel rolled her eyes at the anger that radiated off of the dirty blonde girl. If there was one important piece of knowledge to know about Gel it would be that you don't mess with her when she's tired. She'll burn you alive.

"Fuck-"

"Stop swearing!" Pavarti butted in.

"Fuck you too.Get your head out of our argument and just listen," Lavender gasped and Gel rolled her eyes once more. "If I have to deal with this for the rest of my childhood I would rather jump off the astronomy tower. Lavender, get your head out of your ass and move somewhere else if you want to sing spells like a harpy. Hermione can stay because she's nice and hasn't tried to disrupt my precious sleep schedule."

I felt the growing tension in the room snap as Lavender muttered, "I see rudeness is just a Grindelwald trait."

Gel got right up out of her bed and walked right over to where Lavender was on her bed. I almost choked on air as I saw my best friend slap her right across the face, leaving a red mark on her usually pale cheeks.  _ Oh shit. _

"And I see being a useless, dimwitted harpy is just a Lavender Brown trait," Gel sneered before walking back over to her bed and tucking herself in. I watched as Hermione had to hold in some laughter. She wouldn't go after her family, but she would go after her.

Pavarti closed the book she was reading and walked out of the room. To do what, she didn't tell us. If she was going to inform a teacher, she sure wasn't going to get anywhere. All of our teachers, barring Snape, loved Gel since she was one of if not the best student in our year.

Lavender did end up leaving the room with tears in her eyes. I would have felt bad if it weren't for the fact that Gel and Hermione had good points. She was just so  _ loud _ and blamed it on  _ who she was. _ If you're loud, you can't just push the blame on other things or people. Own up to your actions and admit you made a mistake. Honestly, it was so entitled of her to think that she could get away with harassing Gel and  _ not _ get a verbal beating from it. Gel knows that words are almost as powerful as magic itself, she could use them to her advantage when she needed to.

"Thanks for standing up for me, Gel," Hermione thanked.

"No problem, Hermione. Now, I'm going to sleep, so nobody wake me up until we have to get to class."

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**Gel had been dealing with** more social issues than I would have thought. It wasn't that she was socially active and good with handling certain types of people, it was that she had her own air of bluntness that sometimes got her into trouble. She didn't let people walk on her, or even get close to walking over her. If someone tried to harass her she would verbally destroy their reputation without remorse.

The way that she interacted with the world reminded me of the way my own Grandfather worked. Not allowing many people into your heart while also being well known at the same time. Nobody knew  _ anything _ about Gelsomeana Grindelwald. She didn't talk about her personal life that much and when she did she made things quite vague.

I had been the only one to gather any sort of knowledge on the way she thought and what she thought. Sometimes I even doubted if her own mother knew anything about the daughter she raised. While they were close in many ways, they were both independent people.

"Mysterious woman," I muttered, picking up my textbook, taking out the homework that was inside. History of Magic, one of the most fascinating yet boring subjects of all time. No, Professor Binns was what made this class boring. Our essays had to be five feet long. Every. Single. Time. It got tedious after the second week of school.

"How does she do it? How does she just sleep during our breaks and  _ not study _ ? I mean, she has some of the best grades I've ever seen but she doesn't study!" I take out my quill and dip it into my inkpot. "I would give  _ anything _ to be like that."

I heard a chuckle come in from the other end of the library. A shiver went down my spine as I noticed the terrible sounds coming from the restricted section.  _ Is someone in here? The Tutoring Club already left for their classes. There shouldn't be anyone else in there since it's only available at night, and only to people who are of legal age. _

The creepy thing about this voice was that it didn't sound very  _ human _ at all, rather morose in all honesty. It scared the living daylights out of me as I felt it's sunken voice whisper, " _ The answers should be in here. They were always in here. Do not worry, they will not suspect you. _ "

It's tone, it pulled my mind closer, and not in a good way. It was tantalizing and terrifying at the same time, almost as if it was half of what it was supposed to be. Putting on an act, it sounded like.  _ Just do your essay and you should be fine, Al. There's nothing inside of this castle that could kill you right now. If Uncle knew that there was something here he would get rid of it for you. What if he doesn't know? Oh god, what is that damn voice? Am I going crazy or something? _

Taken out of my thoughts by a slam on one of the tables, I watch as the Weasley twins mess around with a book and a girl a few yards away from me.

"Give me that book back, Freddie!" The Hufflepuff girl whisper-yelled.

"I don't think I will, your majesty," One of the twins snarked back. I sighed at their antics and put my stuff away, unable to focus in the library with them messing around.

That voice coming from the restriction section still haunted me as I left the library. It just sounded so  _ wrong _ , if that made any sense. It had no real  _ life _ to it, almost like it was something that would take life away. It was callous yet manipulative, just what you would expect from something dark and evil. I would never let myself get seduced by something of that manner. That person, whoever they were, would become an issue if they continued hanging out with their friend in the restriction section.

Making my way down the hallway, I noticed all sorts of commotion. Whatever had happened, it was big enough for people to start talking in rapid sentences, never giving themselves enough time to take a breath.  _ Wonder what the latest gossip is then. People are so riled up this morning. _

"Dumbledore!" I turned around to see Potter calling me over. Walking over to him, I notice the worried expression on his face. "Did you hear what happened? At Gringotts?"

I shook my head. I hadn't been able to receive the latest news of the day.  _ Gringotts. Damn near safest place for your money or dark objects that you don't want the Ministry to get a hold of. _

"Well, I think you ought to know," I smiled as he handed me a copy of the Daily Prophet.

**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the word of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied that same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

" _ The answers should be in here _ ," I whispered under my breath before looking back at Potter. "Thanks for the news. I best be off to find Gel. Have a nice day."

My heart raced as I almost broke out into a jog to get away from everyone in the corridors. What was it about that article that struck me? Who could have broken into somewhere as safe as Gringotts?

A Dark witch or wizard indeed.

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3rd person POV

**Whether or not the likes** of quivering, mumbling, erratic Quirrell could pull off such an act remained only in the minds of himself as he pushed his way through the restricted section of the Hogwarts Library. Often reminding himself of his own purpose in life, the Death Eater slave turned Hogwarts professor had no choice in the matter at hand.

" _ Find out how to bring me back _ ," Voldemort whispered to him from inside his turban, " _ Make sure nobody sees you do this work. _ "

"Yes, my lord," Quirrell could barely get the words out, fear plaguing his mind as his hands fumbled their way across the dusty bookshelf. There were many books on the topic of reanimating a corpse in the restricted section, but the professor wished that he had been given an instruction manual on how to bring back to life a dark wizard such as his master. The best he could find was a book on Inferi.

" _ You cannot find another way. The stone... it is the only way, dear servant _ ," Oh, how Quirrell hated being called a servant. One of the most loyal of the bunch of Death Eaters that had survived the first war, but a slave he did not wish to be. " _ Get past Dumbledore and his ridiculous games. I will come back this year and when I do, Potter shall be dead. I shall rule the world. Your name will be written in glory as one of my supporters when I crush the mudbloods. _ "

He had heard his talk for so long that he became numb to the idea of mudbloods dying out. When being told all of your life that mudbloods were evil and unworthy of their magic, you tend to not be able to form an adamant opinion of your own out of baseline fear. How different things could have been for the professor with a snake on the back of his head if he had a different upbringing.

"Yes, my lord," he responded the same way that he did every time, but this time added on, "What shall we do about that girl?"

" _ What girl do you speak of, Quirrell? _ " It was the first time that Voldemort had sounded perplexed by a question posed by one of his supporters. " _ If you mean the mudblood, she will be no problem. You and I shall kill her and her entire family. _ "

"There are two that I am concerned about," Voldemort let out an evil chuckle before Quirrell continued, "Ariana Dumbledore and Gelsomeana Grindelwald."

" _ Grindelwald! What a name! Both of them shall have their chance to join us, Quirrell, for they are mere children who don't know the true meaning of power. Gellert Grindelwald... he was known for choosing those with the most power _ ," Voldemort reminisced on the times he had looked in some of the many books about Gellert Grindelwald and his rise to power. " _ He cared too much about Albus Dumbledore and his potential to lead with him. I lead alone, with my followers to support me. I will not fail. _ "

It was true that Voldemort believed he would not fail. Oh, how he had believed he would kill the Potters with ease, only to fail at killing the one year old child James and Lily had produced but a year prior.

"What about their relatives?" Voldemort hummed at the question, thinking of what to say next.

" _ Grindelwald would support me if he were out of that prison of his. He shall come with me or he will die, the same with his granddaughter. Alyona joined us. She will have an important mission once we break our best fighters out of Azkaban, _ " Quirrell nodded and went back to work, trying to find the best way to get into wherever Dumbledore was hiding the Philosopher's Stone. While his tired fingers worked away, one thing had been made certain:

Voldemort had resurfaced.


	6. Bullies Deserve Howlers

Al's POV

**The beginning of the next** three days started with a small fight between Pavarti and Gel and ended with me wondering how I got myself stuck in the middle of them bickering. It was clear that Gel hated the fact that Pavarti kept on harping on about how Gel should just be quiet because she has nothing smart to say. Hell, I hated when she would say rude stuff like that. Pavarti was not being a nice or good roommate to Gel, Hermione, and I. She had a clear disdain for Gel and I when we would hang out and even showed some rudeness towards Hermione whenever she stood up for herself. It was awkward, annoying, and downright absurd.

Now we were in Astronomy. Thankfully Pavarti and Lavender did not have this class with us. This class was with all of the other houses and had new faces that I had not seen during the rest of the week.

"Wait, isn't that Aquila?" Gel asked from my right side, looking into her telescope her mother got before the school year started. I nodded, pointing out where it was on the star map we had to make for test points. Mapping out all of these stars had been hard, with none of them making that much sense to me. Astronomy was not my strong suit, but I had gotten good grades this year because of Gel's help.

"Beautiful this time of year," I commented, looking out to the stars, "I wonder what Astronomers do. Finding new stars must be hard when most of them have already been found already."

"Mostly just studying the stars and how they orbit, perhaps," Gel theorized as she looked into the white telescope. "You're right though, they are beautiful right now."

We stayed quiet for the rest of class, jotting down our findings on loose pieces of parchment. During that time I had wondered just how long our years would be. Of course the practical answer was until the end of the second term, but how long would they  _ really _ be? Would time fly by faster than I wanted? I didn't want to leave school, even if it meant getting away from Snape and his crap. This place had become like a second home to me. Grandpa's place was nice, but even he was starting to get bored of me and my antics at the Hog's Head.

My antics hadn't gone away at the start of the term either, rather they started up in ways that even my Grandpa would find odd. During dinner sometimes I would accidentally break a glass, which nobody would find out of the ordinary if they knew how I was at home. No, this was unusual because it wasn't my hands that would break the glass, but rather my  _ magic. _ Of course, magical outbursts were not out of the ordinary for me, but these sorts of things hadn't happened for at least five years.

Sometimes it happened when I got stressed, but other times I felt completely at ease. It pulled at my mind trying to figure out what was going on with me. I wasn't some out of control first year, I had control over my spells.

The other odd thing about all of this was that it happened in the Great Hall and only in the Great Hall. When I would go out I was fine, no glasses or other objects broken with magic. I hadn't exactly told anyone about this weird phenomenon, but I think Gel has already found out that  _ something _ is up with my magic.

I don't want to burden her anymore with all of my oddities. She has enough on her plate with school and learning how to control that hot temper of hers. Putting more pressure on her isn't fair right now.

Once we left the classroom to head back up to our common room, I wasn't surprised to see that Hermione was getting out her books for yet another late night study session. I had already grown accustomed to seeing her do this, as she could be described as both an early bird and a night owl at the same time, so it didn't bother me much. That was, unless she did something to wake Gel and I up.

"To be fair, she hasn't even got a clue who her father is," I heard Ronald Weasley say to Harry, "You shouldn't be too nice to her, even if she doesn't have parents. While your parents were good, I bet her father was a Death Eater just like her mother. You know, the bad people who helped kill all the good people? We don't hang around them, mate, they're bad news."

From the sound of it, I knew exactly who Ron was talking about, although I didn't know Gel's mother was a Death Eater.  _ You're a bloody idiot for saying that. Right in front of me, Ron. I'm literally right here. Are you trying to get punched? I bet your brother would let her get away with it since she's McGonagall's daughter and he's sort of a professor's pansy. _

"I don't know, Ron, she's pretty nice from the looks of it. Not everyone is like their parents."  _ Oh good for you, Potter, having your own opinions.  _ "Grindelwald hasn't exactly done anything rude to me. Hermione even said to you that she's stood up for you. Those Death Eaters you were talking about hate people like her."

"Not everyone is as nice as they seem, Harry. I mean, Lavender Brown even said that she  _ hit _ her. If that doesn't raise any red flags I don't know what does," Ron continued to try and turn Harry against my friend.

"She also hit  _ Snape.  _ You know how bad he is! Just leave her alone, Ron, she hasn't done anything to any of us. If you gave her a chance I bet you could see how nice she really is. I mean, she's friends with Dumbledore's great-niece and he's a good wizard," Harry points out. I watch as Ron rolls his eyes and looks at me, realizing that I was standing there the entire time, waiting for Gel to get back from the lavatory.

"What do you want, Dumbledore?" Ron snarked.

"For you to leave my best friend the hell alone before I do to you what she did to Snape. Just because your family fought on the right side during the war doesn't make you better than any of us. You were what, one? You didn't fight, you're just riding off of the status your parents gave you," Ron's ears were turning red with anger as I spoke, his eyes glimmering with hate. "Hating someone because of their family is wrong. Gel is a good person and you're too blinded by your own ego to see that. If I hear you speaking badly about her again I'll deal with you myself. For now, I think I'll just go to my uncle."

"You can't do that!" Ron shouted, "You can't just get him to cover up the fact that your  _ best friend  _ is the granddaughter of the second darkest wizard of all time! Everyone here will see that she's awful once her charm wears off. You can't go around punching people in the face and still have followers."

"We'll see," I let out a dark laugh, " _ We'll see. _ "

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3rd Person POV

**As the night turned to** dawn, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore started on his work. No longer could he sleep until noon like he liked to in his youth, now sticking to getting perhaps six hours of sleep per night. His body was not like it used to be, that of which he knew quite well. No longer was he the young man with a fighting spirit. He had turned into an old man who gave wisdom to children not that different from himself. Of course, he would always retain a certain amount of his old self, but not to the same degree as one might imagine.

It was a chilled October afternoon, almost time for Halloween. Things were coming along this year at Hogwarts thanks to Albus Dumbledore and his work to keep the Philosopher's stone out of Voldemort's hands. The other teachers did not want to admit that Thomas Riddle Jr. was both alive and working through another, but Albus knew his old ways. He knew how Riddle worked, as he had known him since he was a boy.

"What a lovely day for mischief, Fawkes," Albus addressed his Phoenix companion (he did not wish to call Fawkes a pet, as it both undermined their friendship and Fawkes' independent nature). "I don't think I have seen a day quite like this one. Burning day is coming next year, isn't it? It is good that you still hold your ethereal glow."

Fawkes bowed his head, happy to receive a compliment from his friend and companion. The bird was quite pleased with his friend that day, as Albus had laid out some treats for him the night before. Treats were always appreciated.

Just as Dumbledore was about to get started on some paperwork at half past seven, a small note came flying through his office. He tutted and took a peek at who had addressed a letter to him this early in the morning only to see that it was from his great-niece.

Carefully taking the letter out of the envelope, he began to read:

_ Dear Uncle Albus, _

_ I would like to first wish you a happy morning. Sorry for sending this so early, but I knew I had to write it before Gel woke up and saw exactly what I was writing about. I hate keeping secrets, but my reasoning should be quite obvious. _

_ Ronald Weasley has been giving Gel a hard time these past few weeks. I don't know why he hates her so much, but he keeps on mentioning how Gel will be just like her grandfather and her mother, who I didn't even know was a Death Eater. Thankfully Gel was not there to hear him try to convince Harry Potter himself that she was a problem child, as I believe she would give him the same treatment she gave Snape when he mentioned Gellert Grindelwald. _

_ Since you are our Headmaster I would like for you to put an end to all of these rumors. I know that it may be a lot to ask, but it has put Gel in a tough place. She dwells on things like this and I fear that his words will end up getting to her or worse, firing up that temper of hers to extreme levels. Gel doesn't deserve this sort of treatment from someone, let alone someone inside of her own house. _

_ You know I wouldn't have sent this unless I had already tried to put a stop to the bullying, so remember that I will always stand by my friends, no matter the cost. _

_ Yours truly, _

_ Al Dumbledore _

In her own particular way, Al Dumbledore was able to strike Albus' heart. A fatherly bond had grown between them during some of his short visits, with her attitude and troublemaking ways reminding him of himself when he was her age. Al Dumbledore had promise, her great-uncle was sure of that.

"Every single year," Albus tutted, looking down at the letter once more, "This happens every year. Do we have to do away with our leniency? Children can be cruel, it seems, as well as ignorant of how they make others feel."

Fawkes simply crowed in response, a response that Albus was used to hearing.

In his seat, Albus Dumbledore sent out a letter of his own. To Minerva McGonagall, both the head of house and Ronald Weasley's mother. He would bring in the Gryffindor Prefects, but he did not wish for Molly Weasley to catch wind of this until we spoke to the parties involved. Parents could be... angered if they heard that their child was treating another child at school poorly.

_ Minerva, _

_ I ask for you to come to my office as soon as you can. Seeing as it is a Saturday, you should be able to come up with relative ease. _

_ As always, the password is sherbert lemon. _

_ Albus _

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**Fury flew through the Transfiguration** professor's bones when she had heard of what Ronald Weasley had said about her daughter. While her friend had not told her the worst of the details, mainly the part about Gel perhaps suffering emotionally (as he did not wish to upset his friend further. She was ready to blow a fuse by the end of the first half of their chat), she had enough information to piece together what the boy had been doing during the school year.

_ Getting the Potter boy involved? How outrageous!  _ She had exclaimed earlier, knowing that Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were in fact very close friends. Minerva did not think someone would stoop so low at such an age, but she knew that she would be having a heated conversation with the boy in question.

The boy had been brought up half past noon, right after lunch had started. He was to come up to the Headmaster's office at once. In fact, he had been informed by none other than his brother, who had heard bits and pieces of Minerva's long rant about bullying not being tolerated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Percy Weasley had already spread the news of his brother's sentence to a wrathful Minerva McGonagall to Fred and George, who laughed and actually felt like Percy was being a brother for a change instead of a prat.

Ronald Weasley had indeed gotten himself into trouble with those who decided his fate at school when he antagonized Gelsomeana Grindelwald, the daughter of his Head of House.

In the limelight of the mid afternoon sun, Albus Dumbledore decided it was best to close the blinds for maximum effect.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley," the Headmaster greeted his student, "Sit, sit."

"I didn't do anything wrong, Headmaster," the boy defended himself with quite a weak argument of pure denial.

"You believe it is within your right to spread rumors about your housemates?" Dumbledore asked the young Gryffindor boy. He knew how he was playing this off. In fact, the old man knew precisely what the boy was going to say, he just needed him to utter the words in front of Minerva, who was standing by her friend's desk.

"She's literally evil! I'm trying to get Harry away from her so she doesn't end up like your niece. Trouble is all that she'll bring to him," Minerva hissed under her breath at the boy's words. If this were an adult speaking about her child in such a manner, she would have hexed them into the afterlife.

"Ah, yes, yes, the confines of what is good and evil. We come to learn a lot about that in our youth. Things that parents teach children and children teach their own children. I have come to terms with the fact that no one person is entirely one or the other. Good, evil, or a unicorn?" Dumbledore combatted the argument with ease, knowing where he stood. "The problem still remains: you are bullying one of your classmates."

"She's a cocky know-it-all, I'm just telling people the truth." It was starting to get too much for the mother of the girl he was slandering the name and reputation of. Her hands fumbled with pure loathing of the boy who said such terrible things about her own daughter, the daughter she raised to be a bright student and good person.

"Ah, it must feel terrible to be bested by someone. To be weaker can bring about forms of jealousy, Mr. Weasley, do not let your feelings consume you. Hogwarts is a place to grow yourself both emotionally and intellectually. Miss Grindelwald is just taking full advantage of what the school I run has to offer. You cannot blame someone for their natural intelligence, or lack thereof," Dumbledore took a long pause before continuing, "To that Minerva will be making a visit to your mother and father to explain the situation. As this is the first time we are hearing of this sort of behavior, we will not expel you."

"I'd be expecting a Howler soon, Mr. Weasley, as it is  _ my child _ you have been treating poorly. If I'd have heard any of this myself you would be out of Hogwarts. You have detention until the last two weeks of school this year, Mr. Weasley. I think you and Mr. Filch will have some good  _ bonding time _ ," Minerva seethed the last sentence, walking out of her room in order to apparate her way to the Burrow.

Oh, how one action can change a story.

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**The idea had been quite** simple to Minerva: get to the Burrow and tell her friend what her idiot of a son had done. Although it turned out that the boy had no remorse for his actions, Minerva knew that her friend would not have raised a son with no regard for the wellbeing of other people. Molly Weasley was a fierce friend and an even fiercer mother, she would be able to sort her own son out and drag his head out of his arse.

Apparating right in front of the lot (as they had protections on the place to make sure that only family members could poof in whenever they needed something), Minerva took long, confident strides as she made her way to the door. Knocking twice as she always did, Minerva saw as Molly made her way to the door, knitting needle in hand.

"Oh, Minerva! Funny to see you here during the school year," She gave her former professor a hug, which Minerva returned, before asking the important question, "Has something happened?"

"It would be best if we chatted about this with Arthur here as well," Molly nodded, deducting that it had to do with one of her many children (although she did believe that it would be Fred and George, the local troublemakers of both the Weasley family and Hogwarts).

"He should be home any minute," Minerva nodded, watching as the dishes washed themselves. She had not grown up next to so much magic, her father being a muggle and her mother a witch. The life and childhood of a half-blood was much different, especially back in her day.

Almost on queue, Arthur Weasley walked into his home. Looking to greet his wife, who was almost always working away in the kitchen or in the living room, he sees the pair sitting down on the couch, and an aura of unease surrounding them. Arthur pushed his anxieties down and came to greet his wife and one of his close friends.

"Molly, dear, how has your day been?" He asks his wife, who replies with the usual  _ good, dear,  _ and turns to Minerva, "What has brought you here today, Minerva?"

"Oh I would like to say nothing bad, but I cannot," Arthur took in a deep breath before nodding and sitting down on a nearby lounge chair. "One of your sons, Ronald, has caused great disruption at Hogwarts this term. I could say that I have not taken sides but that would be a blatant lie, as I will always side with my daughter when it comes to these things."

"Minerva, what has he done? Did he do something to Gel?" Molly Weasley, when she visited her friend, often saw Gel running around the house, often preferring to either be by herself or with her adoptive mother. She never found her to be too much of a troublemaker (and Molly Weasley knew troublemaker when she saw it), with her kind eyes and somewhat strict demeanor.

"More like what he's been saying about her," Minerva had to fight back the urge to let it all out. All of the emotion that she had been hiding inside. She was furious, but this was an important and most of all  _ proper _ meeting, even if she was talking with old friends.

"My son. Oh I hate to hear this already, Minerva. What sorts of things has he been saying? I presume not very good," the professor nodded, knowing the exact sorts of things. Albus had been able to find Al to get exact quotes since the girl had a very good memory.

"Saying that she'll be a dark witch when she grows up, claims that she is a pureblood supremacist, he has even made comments about Alyona turning to you-know-who. Not only are these claims damaging to Gel, he has tried to get Harry Potter to think this way as well," Molly gasped when she heard of the things her boy had been doing.

"This is... I am so sorry for what my son has done to your daughter. He will not be getting away with this! Not in my household! I did not raise a child to be a bully!" Minerva smiled at her friend's ability to parent. She had to take a few lessons from her, as she knew she was a bit lenient with her own daughter when she did things that she shouldn't have done.

"I am disgusted by this behavior. Thank you for informing us, Minerva," Arthur said.

"I should be going now. Tutoring club," Molly and Arthur smiled at their friend, nodding and saying their goodbyes.

Ronald Weasley was in for a surprise when he woke up the next day.

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Gel's POV

**I had woken up to** the sound of shouting in our dorm room. Seeing as it was almost time to go down to breakfast anyways, I allowed Hermione and Pavarti to scream at each other while I started to get ready for the day. Since we didn't have any classes, I was free to do almost whatever I wanted around the castle.

"Come on, let's go down to eat," Al said, her hand brushing against my shoulder. At that one touch my heart started pounding in my head. I flipped my head to see her smile and awkwardly smiled back, ready to just get down to breakfast.

Walking down the halls, I see multiple students laughing and chatting away, ready to make their way into the Great Hall.  _ Hope that Weasley doesn't make a scene. It's Sunday... things shouldn't be too bad. Just make sure that he doesn't harass you and you'll be fine. What's the worst thing that could happen? A fight? Oh... Oh god that would be bad. Would I win? I don't want to get into a fight I can't win. I would be ashamed of myself. Shame on me, shame on my mother, shame on my wand, shame on everything I have. _

"Well, isn't it the one and only Ronald Weasley," Al started, looking at the redhead with a grin plastered on her face, "Don't ever think about messing with my best friend again or you'll end up in a ditch, got it?"

"You're a-"

"Don't even try," Al shushed him, smiling evilly. I blushed scarlet once she took my hand to drag me to another part of the Gryffindor table. I looked over at Harry, who I could see trying to hold back his own laughter. Quite a few of the kids, some of which were our age, laughed at the confrontation that just occured. "He won't be messing with us unless he wants to get expelled. Uncle made sure of that. Also, do you know someone named Molly Weasley?"

"Al what did you do?" I exclaim, knowing that she did something that would change the course of the school year.  _ Oh god did she tell her uncle? If she told her uncle that means... Molly. Where...? Oh goddamnit Al you got my mom to go to her house! Lord now the whole school will know that we were fighting! _

"Made sure that Weasel won't mess with us. I think that his mom would be pretty pissed if she found out that her son was treating one of his classmates badly. Just a hunch from what I've gathered about her in my eleven years on this earth. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble, just him," I shook my head in annoyance. I knew that she was trying to do what she thought was right, but she could have at least  _ told me _ that she was going to her Uncle for help!

"You know that I hate when you do these kinds of things in secret," I groaned, looking around at all of the people staring, "Because they always stare afterwards."

"They're only looking because they think you're brilliant, Gel. I mean, you are one of the best witches in our year. Embrace all of that glory," I rolled my eyes at her comments and got a piece of toast from one of the baskets of toast and bread. "You have to show more confidence. Like when you're just with me. Let people see the real Gelsomeana Grindelwald."

"Nobody knows the real Gelsomeana Grindelwald," she frowned, "Not you, not Mum, not even  _ me. _ "

"That's ridiculous," she claimed, "I know many things that are very much real about you, Gel. I know that you snuggle your pillow while you sleep, hate Professor Snape because he makes you feel worthless, and love your Mum because you think she's the only one who will ever love you. It's obvious to me."

"Damn, you really have to call me out like that," she nodded. I groaned again and took a bite out of my freshly buttered toast.  _ Why does she have to know me better than I know myself? I mean, I should be the one that knows me, not her. Why did I let anyone in this year? Having friends is hard. _

"I'm just helping you be the best version of yourself that you can be. No Ronald Weasley or other stupid witches and wizards should be able to change my Gel," I smiled at the fact that she called me  _ her Gel _ . "There we go. A smile. I thought they were becoming rare for you."

"Talk like that and they-"

My snark was cut off by the sound of an envelope ripping. I whipped my head around to where the noise was coming from: Ronald Weasley and his friends.

"RONALD WEASLEY! FIRST LETTER OF MINE YOU'LL BE GETTING THIS MORNING BECAUSE I AM ABSOLUTELY ASHAMED! I CANNOT BELIEVE THE FACT THAT MY OWN SON, MY SON, WOULD BULLY HIS OWN CLASSMATE, THE DAUGHTER OF ONE OF HIS PROFESSORS AND THE DAUGHTER OF ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS, BY SPREADING RUMORS ABOUT HER LIKENESS TO HER FAMILY! IF I WERE THERE WITH YOU I WOULD BE SCREAMING WITH ANGER WHILE FORCING YOU OUTSIDE FOR A WEEK! I HOPE YOU HAVE NO CHANCE OF FREE TIME AT HOGWARTS THIS YEAR, YOUNG MAN! WHEN YOU GET HOME I WANT YOU TO GO STRAIGHT TO YOUR ROOM! YOU AREN'T COMING HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS THIS YEAR, NO SIR!"

The first one ripped itself up before the second one started, this time the voice of a man coming from it:

"YOU DARE BE RUDE TO THE LADIES AT HOGWARTS, RONALD? I DID NOT RAISE MY SON TO BE ANYTHING BUT A GENTLEMAN TO THE WOMEN IN HIS LIFE! YOUR MOTHER AND I ARE DISGUSTED BY THIS BEHAVIOR. MINERVA CAME TO THE HOUSE TODAY AND TOLD US ALL ABOUT YOUR GOSSIP! GELSOMEANA GRINDELWALD IS AS MUCH A GRINDELWALD AS SHE IS A MCGONAGALL. I AM ASHAMED! I HAVE NEVER HAD TO RESORT TO SENDING A HOWLER IN MY ENTIRE LIFETIME! NOT FOR CHARLIE AND NOT FOR FRED AND GEORGE EITHER! YOU TOP THE LIST OF THE MOST DAMAGING OF YOUR MOTHER AND I'S SEVEN CHILDREN! YOUR SISTER SHOULD HAVE A ROLE MODEL, NOW SHE HAS AN OLDER BROTHER WHO BULLIES YOUNG GRYFFINDOR GIRLS! I WOULD MAKE YOU SLEEP OUTSIDE IF I HAD ANY SENSE! YOUR MOTHER AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS! SHE WILL LAY DOWN ANY PUNISHMENT SHE SEES FIT! IF I HEAR YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE- I HOPE GELSOMEANA CAN HEAR THIS BECAUSE IF YOU NEED TO HIT MY SON I WILL ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO SO!"

Many students cheered from other tables as the Howler ripped itself up just like the one before. Dean, Seamus, Pavarti, Lavender, and Harry all had their mouths wide open as Ron received his two Howlers. I could see Percy giggling under his breath at the commotion. The twins kept on looking at Ronald and then looking back at each other with shocked expressions.

"Well, you've really done it now, Ronnie, now Dad's pissed," Percy deadpanned. "You'll be deknoming the garden for the next few years, I'm telling you."

"Ridiculous," Ronald muttered, throwing the remains of the Howler on the ground. "This is a load of bullcrap."

"You'll be dealing with crap for sure!" one of the twins yelled over at him, "You bloody ass!"

"Language, Mr. Weasleys," I smiled as I saw Mum coming down the Great Hall, meeting my gaze. "Oh, Gel dear, I made sure that you and Al could sit with me up in the commentators box for the first Quidditch game."

"Thank you, Mum," she gave me a warm smile and went on to where the rest of our teachers were sitting. "Don't we have that Potions essay due this Tuesday?"

"Damnit."

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**With Halloween coming up, you** would expect teachers to lay off the work. Well, it seems that Hogwarts doesn't run the way I wish it would because I have three essays due tomorrow and now I have to study for a Herbology test that's happening  _ right after Halloween.  _ Why Professor Sprout wants us to die is beyond me, but Al and I were working day in and day out in order to finish everything on time and get an O.

Snape was being nicer than usual to us, which made me think that he's either possessed or just another person under Polyjuice Potion. Honestly Peeves could have possessed him and nobody would do anything about it because we would rather have Peeves teach us than Professor Snape.

Something told me that this guy had to have been bullied as a child. What bully wasn't either bullied as a child, didn't get enough affection, or both? In Snape's case, he seemed starved of any positive attention  _ and  _ bullied. There was no joke Seamus could crack that could get him to laugh. Not even a little. In fact, he would take off points if he heard anyone around him laughing, which made no sense because most of his jokes were made on the way  _ out _ of the class, not on the way in.

All in all, I hated this guy and I wanted to punch him again more and more every day. With every point he took off I wanted my fist to crack open his nose once more. Yeah, it probably was bad to think of punching your Potions professor in your free time, but when have I not been labeled as a bad kid? I never said I was perfect.

"Get out your textbooks and turn to page 376," Snape droned, looking at Potter with a look of loathing only he could pull off. "Note that today we will be looking at the  _ Pompion Potion _ . If you have a problem with that, also note that I don't care."

_ Being a bit extra today, are we, Snivellus? You snivelling snake. _

"Professor, isn't that the one that turns your head into a pumpkin?" Vega asked. Snape gave her an annoyed look but nodded.

"Listen to me carefully and write this down. I won't help you and I won't repeat myself. Pompion Potion is a potion that when drunk, temporarily turns the drinker's head into a pumpkin. In order to brew this potion, one has to crush the Flitterby Moth into a pulp and add it to the cauldron, then stir the mixture clockwise until it turns green. Next, the Bouncing Bulb has to be ground with a mortar and added to the cauldron. The mixture has to be stirred anti-clockwise until it turns red before slicing the foxglove and, too, add it to the mixture. Stirring clockwise until it turns orange completes this potion."

We all started to work on our potions and notes as Snape sneered, "Foxgloves are also highly poisonous. I would just  _ dread _ anyone being sent to Madam Pomfrey this- fine  _ evening _ ."

Snape's voice haunted me as I tried to work on my potion with Al. Thankfully by the time we had gotten to the Foxglove we knew what we were doing.  _ Don't even think about harassing me for the way that I'm cutting- _

" _ Miss Grindelwald _ ,"  _ Fuck off, _ "You are cutting them  _ wrong _ ."

"No I'm not. You said you didn't want to help someone so leave me alone to do my potion," I snapped at him. Some  _ oohs _ and  _ aahs _ rang throughout the classroom as Snape gave me a heated glare. I smiled mockingly at him before rolling my eyes. "Go do some paperwork or figure out new ways to make students cry. Leave Al and I alone and be miserable somewhere else."

"That tongue of yours will get you into trouble someday,  _ Grindelwald _ ," He sneered.

"That nose of yours will too, but we just don't talk about that," Al choked out a laugh as students all around cackled. "Oh, I bet you could climb a tree with that big thing-"

"Five points from Gryffindor! If I hear any more noise for the rest of this class you will all be scrubbing the floors of the third floor corridor!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS:  
> Accidental self-harm  
> Violence

Gel's POV

**To bring up my own** mistakes during this past week would be fruitless because you would list them out into next week. I didn't particularly  _ want _ to be on the edge of my flaming hot temper at all hours of the day, but some of the kids here at Hogwarts really  _ pissed me off. _ I mean, how does one become so  _ stupid  _ in the span of a  _ day _ ? The very idea of losing your intelligence that quickly baffled me. I had always thought those sorts of things stuck with you your entire life, but yesterday Severus Snape had proved me wrong.

It started the same way that all of our fights had. He said something utterly ridiculous and I made a comment about his nose. It would then turn into a pissing match for the rest of the period. Although no fists were thrown during our most recent arguments on every subject we could think of, I think that I had mentally thrown him off the Astronomy tower at least three times in the last week.

Sure I had made quite a few mistakes during the past week when it came to my general attitude, but the fact of the matter is that I hadn't ever done anything to warrant the sort of insults that Snape threw my way.  _ Insolent child, stupid Gryffindor princess, Wily Wampus  _ (frankly I hadn't had a clue why he even thought that one would offend me, the Wampus cat is a majestic creature),  _ Gilflurt Grindelwald. _ The last one ought to be hate speech against all women out there. It was the way that he  _ sneered _ my name like it was the  _ m  _ word that did it for me.

_ Oh, like the name Snape is any better?  _ I thought, looking around at where Professor Quirrell should have been. He didn't seem to be here today, or maybe he had been running late. Either way, his desk was empty, with only a stack of paperwork on the Alder desk.

"Where do you think Quirrell is?" A boy behind me asked. It was Neville, a boy with a bad habit of spilling his potions all over the area around his own desk in the Dungeons. Although he did seem quite bright when it came to Herbology, the boy did not show talent in any other field. I suspected that he had been given an improperly placed wand, as I knew who his parents were and how good they were with magic.

"Likely late, as per usual. Are all of the teachers here either strict, boring, or mean?" Al muttered, looking down at the essay that we had to turn in today. "Damn, I wish I had paid more attention. We have that test next week and I'll-"

"You'll be fine, Dumbledore," Neville said, "I mean, you'll get an O like usual. I don't think I've ever seen someone get all Os in their classes. Well, besides Hermione Granger, but she tries really hard."

"She does, doesn't she?" I mutter, looking at the girl in question. "Why does she do it? I mean, I see her studying  _ all night.  _ Why be so... up front about how good you are in school?"

"Recognition?" Al guessed, looking at where she was as well, "Couldn't be me. Imagine if everyone thought I was a know-it-all. Hermione is nice, but she does kind of do it to herself. Take Gel and I for example, Neville, don't we get good enough grades?"

"Yeah, but you guys are approachable and Gel's famous after what she did to Snape on the first day of term. People who aren't that great at magic look up to you two," the boy informed my best friend and I, "Plus, you two make potions a little more bearable."

"Aw, thank you, Neville," Quirrell walked in, sweat dripping down his face. He turned to where Al, Neville, and I were sitting and gave us a weak smile. "Wonder what that's all about. He looked terrible."

"It's Halloween, shouldn't he be happy or something?" I questioned, "I mean he doesn't have to deal with us tomorrow either. Maybe he's the one in charge of making sure kids don't mess around in the corridors after the Feast. We get an extra hour before curfew tonight. I sure would hate having to watch everyone like a hawk. Must be hard, teaching and stuff."

"Could never be me," Al muttered as our professor came around to collect our essays.

Quirrell just seemed... off. Like something was so wrong with what he was doing, even if it was what he did every time we had an essay due. His face glistened with sweat and his face told me that my professor was hiding something. What he could possibly be hiding, I had no clue, but he was keeping something a secret from all of his students today.

"Ah, yes, t-t-today we will b-be-be learning about g-goblins and their social hierarchies," he started with, his stutter apparent and worse than usual. "Take o-o-out yo-your textbooks and t-turn-to-turn to page 145."

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**The Halloween Feast was all** that I could have ever imagined. Pumpkin pudding, ice cream, and treacle tart- I couldn't begin to explain how much I loved Hogwarts now. All of the food lined the tables just as they had at the feast, with some sort of magic able to make it all appear at once.

It wasn't long before we had gotten wrapped up in the food, but one thing did surprise me: Professor Quirrell was not there during the meal. In fact, Al and I hadn't seen him since class ended this morning.

"Where do you think Quirrell is, Al?" I asked, looking to where she was sitting on my right, "He isn't here to enjoy the food."

"Maybe he's on a diet or something," she theorized, "He does seem rather anxious about everything having to do with anything. Wonder how he became a teacher with all of that-"

Before Al could continue on, Professor Quirrell came rushing down the Great Hall. He looked  _ terrified. _

"Troll- in the dungeons- thought you ought to know," he cried out when he reached where the rest of our professors were eating their meals. Our D.A.D.A teacher fainted right then and there, now crumpled up on the floor.

People in our house and the other three houses screamed in terror at the thought that there was a  _ troll _ in Hogwarts' dungeons. I rolled my eyes, knowing just how stupid trolls were.  _ Lord, can't any older student just take it out with a simple stun? Or a teacher for that matter. _

"Well there goes our extra hour tonight," Al groaned, "I wanted that."

I looked over to where our Headmaster was. I covered my ears as several small firecrackers exploded out of Dumbledore's wand, causing silence to ring throughout the Great Hall.

“Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories! Teachers, let us head into the dungeons!” He said quickly.

It was Percy's time to shine. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through. Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"

Perhaps it wasn't that our Prefects were inherently annoying, it may have just been the fact that they had been titled and given special powers to use over us. I couldn't blame them for wanting to exercise their newly found powers over the students of their own house and other houses, but it did get rather dull after the first three weeks of term.

"How did a troll get in?" Harry asked Ronald.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid,"  _ Perhaps your patronus is a troll, Ronald, _ "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

Of course, I didn't think that even  _ Peeves _ would pull off something of this nature. If he had, the Bloody Baron would have already hounded him. After all, he was constantly watching over his shoulder to make sure that Peeves didn't get too crazy in Hogwarts.

_ Honestly I would think that an older student did this. Or maybe even a teacher. Wait a minute... why is it that when Quirrell isn't there, everything is fine, but then he comes in and says that there's a troll and everything is chaotic. Odd timing, for it to be Halloween. He was acting weird in class today as well. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Then again, we are going to learn about trolls more later on this year and that gets taught in his class. _ As much as I hated to think that Quirrell had brought in an actual troll during Halloween, it was too suspicious to not point out in my mind.

"What could have brought a damned troll in?" I asked myself, even if I knew what the answer was.  _ A human. A human is what brought this stupid damned troll in. Who am I kidding, it's probably either Snape or Quirrell. Snape does seem the type of arse to do something like this to students on Halloween. _

"Who knows," Al said as Percy said the password for the common room, "At least we're safe from any trolls in here. I doubt that it could even make its way up the stairs. Stupid things, trolls, can barely get around without the help of fellow trolls."

"I hate bloody trolls," I complain, climbing up the stairs. "Hate bloody everything."

"You don't hate everything," she denied, "You don't hate food."

"Hate bloody food."

"You don't hate magic."

"I hate bloody magic."

"You don't hate  _ me _ ."

"Damnit."

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Al's POV

**Since Professor McGonagall had allowed** us to sit with her during the first game of the season, we also got to have the best view. Nothing could beat where Gel and I were sitting. Up high, lots of air for us to breathe. You know, that stuff we need to survive. Well, we have it. Lots of it. Up here. The stands. Yay!

"Don't step on my foot," Gel whined as I accidentally stepped right on her left foot again. "You can't be  _ this _ clumsy, Al."

"Well I am  _ this  _ clumsy, Gel," I said as we made our way to where we were supposed to be sitting on this fine evening.

"What are  _ they _ doing here?" Snape questioned, "Go back to where all of the other students are sitting. We don't play favorites here."

"Rich coming from you," he glared at me for that one. Gel's Mum smiled at the two of us as she sat down next to us. "How are you doing, Professor McGonagall?"

"Good, dear," she replied, sending Snape a glare. Our Headmaster chuckled as he sat down next to me, looking over to where all of the students were in the crowd.  _ So many people turned up today. I wonder if they always have this many students coming to all of the Quidditch games. _

Snape rolled his eyes at the two of us. Gel moved a bit back and Snape kicked her with his boot. "Get away from me, you insolent child."

"Get away from  _ me _ , Snivellus," silence rang throughout the professor's box as Gel snarled the words at him. Her Mum looked both shocked and proud at the name that her daughter had used against the potions professor. "Don't speak to me, Snivellus. I don't like you, Snivellus-"

"YOU-" he started to fume, but McGonagall cut him off.

"Don't you dare!" She stopped him, "Let us watch the first match of the year. I don't want to hear any more harsh words against eleven year olds, Severus."

"She-"

"Leave it be, Severus," Headmaster Dumbledore tutted, "She is a young witch capable of far harsher words than just old nicknames. I don't wish for a fight to break out, for the sake of the game, of course. After you may throw insults at one another like you do in your potions class."

Our flight teacher Madam Hooch was the one to referee things. With her bright yellow eyes and short grey hair, she walked towards the middle of the field where the players were standing. This year, a first year was going to be on a house team. Harry Potter had somehow gotten Gel's Mum's approval.  _ Hopefully this year we have a chance at winning. Apparently Gryffindor hasn't won in a long time. _

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you. Mount your brooms," Madam Hooch said before blowing her whistle.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor -— what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too -—" Gryffindor third year Lee Jordan, the commentator of the game, was cut off by McGonagall.

"JORDAN!" she shouted.

"Sorry, Professor," Jordan apologized.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good friend of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve -— back to Johnson and -— no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes -— Flint flying like an eagle up there- he's going to sc -— no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle- that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and -— OUCH -— that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head with a Bludgers-— Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which — nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gel and I cheered in our area of the stands, much to Snape's dismay, as the game was against his house's team.

"Slytherin in possession -— Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Vell, and speeds toward the -— wait a moment -— was that the Snitch?"

We piped down in order to look all around for the small golden object that must have been soaring around somewhere.  _ Come on, Potter, you can do this. Just find us the Snitch and we'll win. We're up by enough. _

Unfortunately for Potter, Flint almost rode him off of his broom.

"FOUL!" I heard people in Gryffindor's section scream.

"So after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating -—" he started.

"Jordan!"

"I mean, after all that open revolting foul -—"

" _ Jordan, I'm warning you -—" _

All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, sp a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Potter's broom was still moving every which way. I couldn't tell what the bloody hell was going on, but it looked like some sort of Jinx.  _ Oh yeah this is definitely foul play. _

"Slytherin in possession -— Flint with the Quaffle -— passes Spinnet -— passes Bell -— hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose -— only joking, Professor -— Slytherins score -— oh no..."

Potter still continued to flail about on his broom as Flint seized the Quaffle. Before anyone knew it Slytherin had gained actual  _ points _ , which wasn't a good sign at all for Gryffindor if we wanted to win.

As Potter was about to fall, I screamed. Blue flames were wrapping themselves around Snape's coat.

"YOU'RE ON BLOODY FIRE!" Gel screamed, looking up to Snape, who was trying to set out the flames. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

" _ Aguamenti _ ," He enchanted, setting out the blue flames with magical water.

Looking back over at Potter, I saw him now, on the ground, looking like he was going to be sick. I watched as the one and only Harry Potter coughed up the Golden Snitch.  _ Who is going to use that after it's been in your bloody gross mouth, Potter? Will they get a new one? Please get a new one. That's disgusting. _

"Did he just vomit a Snitch?" Gel deadpanned. "Legendary. I love it. We love this epic behavior. Only legends cough up Snitches during their first games. Take that, Snivellus, we won against you snakes."

The Potion Master growled and stomped out of the commentator's box.

In a way, Harry Potter, the boy who lived, had just made his first win against Severus Snape, the man who couldn't be happy.

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Gel's POV

**Snape hadn't cut me any** slack for the past fifteen days and I was ready to punch him in the nose again unless he did. No matter how good I was at potions, he just  _ had _ to make me feel like crap. Insulting me in front of everyone in our class was getting really old really quick. To be frank, I was at my breaking point once I came down into the dungeons today. If he said one more thing about my heritage or my ability to care for other people I would lose it and he would finally see just what happens when Gelsomeana Grindelwald loses it. Mum made the mistake once when I was seven and she hasn't made it since, so he would have to learn the hard way just as she had.

Sitting down just as I always had I took out the same textbook I had been taking out for the last three months.

Potions class was boring if anything, with only the occasional argument between myself and Professor Snivellus to spice things up. I had started to call him that openly. Professor Snivellus started to call me Miss Grindle _ vald _ . He slurred the accent and to be frank his impression of a German accent was awful.

"Get to the right page, Miss  _ Grindelvald _ ," I glared at him but did what he asked me to do, flipping the book to the correct page number. "Next time don't be so useless right when you come into my class."

Now he had done it. "Go away, Snivellus Snape."

"Speak to me in that tone some more and I'll make you wish you were never born," He snarled, pushing all of my stuff off my desk. "Go on, clean it up. It's all you'll ever be good at. You'll never be useful for  _ anything _ , Grindelvald. You'll always be a terrible witch and you'll always be a disappointment to your mother. No wonder your father left a whiny witch like you."

The potions classroom went completely silent.

I couldn't believe what I had heard come out of my professor's mouth. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said, _ No wonder your father left a whiny witch like you, _ Grindelvald," he repeated. Heat rose to my cheeks at his words. They cut my very core as he spoke again, "You're a  _ brat  _ and  _ nobody  _ will  _ ever  _ love you,  _ Gelsomeana. _ "

Not saying a single word I got up from where I had been sitting down at my desk. Snivellus let out a dark laugh as tears welled in my eyes.

" _ Look  _ at  _ you _ -" I raised a single pointer finger in the air.

"If you don't get out of this classroom right now I am going to  _ kill you _ ," my voice was burning red hot with anger. In that moment I could only see the two of us, not Al and the other students gasping around the scene. No, this man was going to die if he didn't run for his life.

"A threat from an  _ eleven year ol- _ " He couldn't even finish his sentence as I yelled, a tear streaming down my cheek,

" _ Diffindo! _ "

The spell left a large cut on his face, to which the other students around me screamed in horror. Blood rushed down his cheek as he let out a cry of pain.

"GET OUT YOU BLOODY SOULLESS MONSTER!" I screamed, more piping hot tears sliding down my face, "I HOPE YOU DIE! I HOPE YOU DIE A HORRIBLE AND PAINFUL DEATH! YOU'RE A  _ MONSTER _ .  _ NOBODY  _ WILL CRY AT  _ YOUR  _ FUNERAL. IN FACT, EVERYONE WOULD FUCKING  _ LAUGH _ . THE ONLY TEARS SHED WILL BE TEARS OF FUCKING  _ JOY  _ BECAUSE ALL YOU DO IS HURT PEOPLE'S FEELINGS LIKE A STUPID  _ BULLY _ !"

Our potions classroom went completely silent.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH-” my screaming stopped as Headmaster Dumbledore walked into our classroom.

"Headmaster," Snivellus gritted through his teeth, "She attacked-"

"I would like to hear the story in full detail, but perhaps in my office would be a better environment for such a thing," This was not the same Dumbledore that I knew. He looked shocked at the scene in front of him. I had never seen my Headmaster  _ shocked _ before. He always seemed so poised and above it all, head in the clouds or something like that.

Not only had I magically attacked my professor, I had done so  _ a second time. _ Those things that he said to me,  _ about me _ , lord they had turned out to be true. Nobody would love a girl who attacked her teacher the second that he said something bad about her.

"Miss Grindelwald?" Dumbledore turned to me. I was visibly shaking, my hands clammy and my heart racing. I felt out of control in so many different ways. "Gelsomeana-"

Before I could hear him finish, I found myself on a roof. I screamed in terror and fell down on the hard tile. Looking out at what I assumed was the outside of Hogwarts, I let myself curl up and sob into my cloak. I felt like I was  _ dying _ and there was nothing that I could do about it. My mind wasn't working correctly, not allowing me to even think as I cried.

How I had gotten up here remained a mystery, but I didn't want to leave. All I wanted to do was stop my heart from beating so fast. I was  _ terrified _ of everything and I couldn't understand why.

The panic in my body hurt so much.

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3rd Person POV

**The hunt for Gelsomeana Grindelwald** started out quite simple: find the girl and bring her back safely. Unfortunately, by the time the third hour struck it had become a full blown manhunt for the Gryffindor first year.

It was not uncommon for scared first years to vanish themselves somewhere their magic thought was safer, but that did not stop Albus Dumbledore's worry. From what he had heard, Gelsomeana had great control over her own magic and had since she was an infant. Why she had suddenly lost control of both her temper and her magic remained unknown to the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Not only had her mother been furious the second that she heard what had happened from her daughter's best friend, she had also almost killed the man that inflicted so much emotional pain on her beloved daughter.

The young girl felt worse and worse about herself as she went over exactly what her professor had said about her. While his claims were untrue, as Minerva McGonagall fiercely loved her adoptive daughter, they still struck deep into her heart. She questioned herself into another panic attack when her mother and best friend found her, sobbing on the roof of the castle.

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Gel's POV

**"Gel! Oh thank goodness you're** here!" I heard Mum shout, running over to me. I couldn't move, not even an inch. My entire body felt numb as she embraced me. "Dear, are you okay? How did you vanish yourself this far up? Come, we have to get you down."

"Professor I think she needs Madam Pomfrey," I could hear the worry in Al's voice as she spoke, "Gel, your wrists..."

Mum looked down at the same time I did. I couldn't even believe what I saw. I hadn't remembered leaving actual  _ marks _ on myself. Small droplets of blood were coming from the nail wounds I had clearly given my wrists, ones that I hadn't meant to make.

"Oh lord," Mum gasped, taking my pained wrists, "Darling what happened to your wrists?"

"I don't remember," I whisper honestly.

"What do you remember, dear?" Mum kissed my head as she held me close. "What happened after you came up here?" I shook my head, not wanting to remember just how scary it was. "We have to get you to the hospital wing, Gel, right now. Those wounds need to be treated."

"I didn't mean to," tears still rolled down my face, "I didn't know I hurt myself, Mummy. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fail you."

"Oh baby you didn't fail me," She insisted. "None of what Severus said was true. I'll always love you no matter what happens. Don't apologize for something you couldn't control. Al, oh, you take her and- We need Albus to help us down since I cannot apparate on school grounds."

Mum hummed before enchanting, " _ Expecto Patronum! Make sure Albus knows where we are and that we need some help down. _ "

A tabby cat flew from her wand, a wispy blue color. The cat meowed before floating down on the ground where I could hear some people shouting.

Not but a few minutes later Albus Dumbledore apparated to where we were on the roof, looking relieved.

"Gave us quite a scare, Miss Grindelwald," he said, looking a bit frazzled now. "We should have you see Madam Pomfrey for those injuries. Although I did not recall hearing that Severus had put his hands on you-"

"He didn't," I said, "It was an accident."

"Oh..." the Headmaster trailed off for a second, taking a better look at the cuts on my wrist, "Were you panicked?"

"Yes."

"A case of accidental magic caused by a panic attack," he informed me. "I am afraid they happen too often in our youth, cases are rising with growing stress in school environments."

"What of Snape?" Al questioned, "He's the one who caused all of this to happen."

"Believe me, he will not do something like this again if he wants to survive the next year. I think that since Snape has acted as a bully in this case, he shall be treated like a Hogwarts bully after they have committed their second offense. Don't you fret, Gel, Severus will be serving detention with McGonagall for the rest of the year."


	8. Volterra

Gel's POV

**Our Common Room and Dorm** Room hadn't been this quiet in months. Nobody said a word as Al and I walked in. I quickly covered up my newly scarred wrists. Apparently, I hadn't even physically scratched myself. It was in fact my own magic that had left a mark on my porcelain white skin. Madam Pomfrey couldn't do much about my magical marks, explaining that my magic was so potent in the wounds that it would do more harm if she tried to take the magic out and fix the gashes on both of my wrists. She couldn't even tell me if I would be able to heal on my own, just ushering me off to go back to my common room.

I had never been so upset or embarrassed in my life. None of my failures could measure up to what I had done. It hurt to see everyone staring at me like I was some sort of insanely rare object. It wasn't like they wanted to know if I was okay, they wanted to know where I had gone and what had happened between the Potions Master and I. Nobody cared. Nobody ever would care. Snape made sure of that the second he started insulting me on the first day of class this term.

"Just lay down with me, okay?" Al whispered, holding my hand in hers. "You don't have to be alone tonight."

Her pure  _ kindness _ was what drew me in closer and closer. Slipping underneath the covers of her bed, I snuggled myself into her chest for the first time. Al was warm, comforting me in ways not even Mum could. Her hands wrapped around my back as she held me close.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Gel," Al insisted, tucking in the blankets around us. "Go to sleep and we can talk in the morning."

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Al's POV

**I had waited for Gel** to fall asleep before giving glares to our dorm mates, who were staring at us. "What do you three want? She's tired, traumatized, and needs to have someone be there for her. Turn your eyes away and go to sleep."

"Is it true that she attacked Professor Snape  _ again _ ?" Pavarti asked.

"What he said first warranted the damn Cruciatus Curse. Why he isn't fired yet is beyond me. Please don't ask her about it in the morning, she was terrified today," Pavarti's face turned softer as she noticed Gel clinging onto me for dear life. "I think we all know how Gel is about magic: she doesn't lose control. Just cut her some slack, please. That's all I ask of you. I know that you two yell at each other all the time because you like to be loud in here, but she isn't mean or a bad person."

"They said that she was on the roof," Lavender started, sitting down on her bed, "How did she get up there?"

"Vanished herself, Lavender, I've seen other students do it on accident," Hermione answered for me. "Harry said he did it once when his cousin was chasing him around. He got scared and just vanished to the roof. Why was she scared?"

"Who isn't a bit terrified of Professor Snape? Plus, she had just attacked him," I quieted myself as I felt Gel stirr in my arms, "Imagine doing something that could get you in trouble. Kids get expelled for attacking teachers, you know. To be quite honest with you, if her Mum wasn't the head of Gryffindor house she may have been expelled on the first day of term. The stunts she pulls... I understand why she does it. Comparing her to her Grandfather sets her off. She didn't get to choose that yet people put it against her."

"I'm sorry," Pavarti whispered her apology before tucking herself in for the night.

Lavender muttered an apology of her own. Hermione had nothing to apologize for, as she had always been kind to Gel and Gel had been kind to her.

It was an eventful day to say the least.

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**The next week at school** had gone by smoothly. Snape did not say anything to Gel and Gel did not say anything to Snape. The dungeons were silent, with nobody daring to make any comments to try and cheer everyone up. Even if Snape and Gel did not exchange their usual harsh words, they gave each other glares that should have counted for dueling. Their eyes looked like they were actually battling for dominance over each other. A new form of pissing match between them had arisen: Who can have the bitchiest glare?

At the moment, Gel was winning that battle.

"Take out your textbooks, class," Professor McGonagall started, "I wish for you to learn all that you can before the winter holidays. Note that all students that are a part of my Tutoring club staff or frequent tutored students will be getting messages inviting them to the first ever field trip Hogwarts has ever seen! Parental permission will be required for half of the trip, but I am sure we can at least take our younger students to Hogsmeade."

Our professor seemed quite pleased with the fact that she had convinced my uncle to allow her to take students on a field trip. According to Gel, her Mum had heard about muggle field trips from her father and decided that it was time for Wizardkind to get with the program, whatever that meant. No doubt Gel would be going, as she didn't want to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays this term.

I was surprised when my professor passed me a letter. Putting it between my books, I see McGonagall give me a warm smile as she walks around the room, giving Neville, Malfoy, and Vega letters of their own. Thank goodness she's helping Neville get away from that crazed grandmother of his. Augusta Longbottom is worse than my Grandpa. That's saying something considering how bonkers he is sometimes.

"Since all of you have been good students for the past term, you can have some time to work together in groups. I do not usually do group work in this class unless it is for advanced assignments, but this shall be my Christmas gift to you," she ended her small message by sitting down at her desk. I watched as she took out a quill and started doing some paperwork.

"Do you think that my Grandpa will let me go?" I asked, looking at where Gel was sitting beside me, "I mean, he is kind of overprotective of me. I don't think I ever talked to a kid my age before meeting you."

"I don't know," she replied, flipping to the page on the transfiguration alphabet. "Lord, they're making everyone answer all of this? No wonder nobody passes magical classes, all of this stuff isn't taught at home if you're a muggleborn or half-blood. I would hate not being able to learn all of this at home. Makes school so much harder."

"I had to wait for creepy old guys to hand me spell books while my grandpa wasn't looking," Gel stifled the laugh that was about to escape her mouth, "What? Not everyone has a parent who wants you to be learning at home. Grandpa tried to take them away, but it had already been ingrained into my long term memory."

"You sure do like pissing that man off. Wonder why," I rolled my eyes and laughed. "What kind of creepy old guys have you seen at the bar, Al? God the Hogs Head must have plenty."

"One time I saw a vampire," Gel gasped. "Seriously cool dude. He gave me a few coins and a book on his people. Said I could come over to Volterra anytime I wanted. Honestly he was really nice. Grandpa always told me that vampires were mean and not to be trusted."

"Obviously that guy proved him wrong," my friend opened up her book to a different page only to find a picture of the Transfiguration alphabet. Professor McGonagall sure knew how to make your holidays a bit harder when need be. The alphabet for this class was so hard to learn. So many rules, so many stupid little rules that make little to no sense. "Lord, where is Mum taking us? Don't know any bloody places to go in Britain."

"She'll find something. She always does."

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**Field trips were not things** that Hogwarts had, not before this year. McGonagall was making history with this trip. I loved going to new places. Unfortunately, my grandpa hates going anywhere, even getting him to the other side of Hogsmeade was a challenge. It was one of the many limitations that my grandpa had, one that I learned to understand and ignore. He was scared of the world and would be for the rest of his stubbornly long life.

The head of Gryffindor house had decided to take us all the way to Italy, which had provided means for some shock in the Hog's Head. I had gone home for the weekend since Hogsmeade was so close to Hogwarts.

Grandpa Aberforth was not pleased with the many things he heard.

"Your friend's name is  _ what _ ?" he asked me again, not even speaking about the field trip.

"Gel, Grandpa, her name is Gel. I don't understand why that's such a big deal. Didn't you want for me to make a few new friends? She's in my year  _ and _ my house. I told you that two weeks ago. Did you not get my owl?" My Grandpa let out a groan and set down his mug on the table.

"I don't give a damn about the first name, Al," he said coldly, "It's the last name. You never told me her  _ last name." _

It was a question that I supposed was valid, knowing that I had not given him her last name. To me, that sort of thing didn't matter. All I knew was that I was from a family of half-bloods. Why would her family name matter  _ this much _ to him?

"Her last name is Grindelwald, but she's been raised by Professor McGonagall," I was pretty sure that my Grandpa had a mini heart attack when I said that. He put his head in his hands for a second before looking back at me, shaking his head.

"Here we go again, another  _ Grindelwald _ . Does this one show any signs of malicious intent for the muggle race? Perhaps an affinity for the  _ Dark Arts _ ?" I let out a sound of protest before he continued, "Those Grindelwalds are no good, kid. All they do is break everyone around them and their hearts. She'll hurt you."

"That isn't true," I denied with a huff, "Gel would never  _ break my heart _ , as you put it. She's kind and she seems to think of me as a good enough friend. I know that you have a problem with everyone you meet, so your opinion is invalid."

"My opinion is  _ invalid _ ," he repeated, shaking his head and getting up from the chair he was seated on. "Honestly, Al, you're going to get yourself killed. Just like my brother, breaking things and  _ befriending _ Grindelwalds. Next thing you know she'll be asking you to join her on some life-threatening quest."

"We're literally eleven, Grandpa," I pointed out, "Plus, any quest she wanted me to go on wouldn't be life-threatening because her mother would lock her in her room if it was. Can you sign the form now, please?"

Grandpa took the paper and called a quill with magic before dipping it in one of our many inkpots. He had learned to not get attached to any one inkpot since I broke them the second I tried to use them. It seemed that things were less broken now that I was at school.

"Don't go anywhere near the Volterra Castle and don't mess with the vampires in the city. They're not the kind of people you want to be on the wrong side of."

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3rd Person POV

**Sitting down on their thrones** in their castle home in Volterra, Italy, the three mated kings of the Volturi did not know what was about to happen to them. They had done what had needed to be done for the day, now relishing in the presence of their life mates that they loved so dearly.

It was not often that Wizardkind came to Volterra. Often too worried that a rogue vampire coming to trial would bite and make them into a creature of the night, the magical community has come into the city on only fifteen occasions during the past two millennia, three of which being during the past century.

The first Wizarding war was a time of unity and destruction. Death Eaters feared vampires above all else, even when some rogue newborns had joined their cause. It was a sanctuary for any muggleborn or half-blood witch or wizard for almost twenty years. Thomas Riddle did not fool himself into breaching a creature of the night's territory, not after a near deadly encounter with one during the summer between his sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts.

Hard to get in and hard to get out, Volterra held its own sort of magic, tested by the wizards and witches that Aro Volturi had turned many centuries ago. Wizardkind was the true might of the Volturi, a might that few understood. Not even some of their closest allies believed in magic, thinking it to have died out. Of course, with the witch trials of times humanity has forgotten, Wizardkind went underground.

The three kings of the Volturi had been spending their long days in the throne room, where all trials would be held. Unnotified of the new magical presence in Volterra, they were confused when Jane came through the doors of the room, as she was still on her week off just like her twin brother.

"Masters," Jane addressed them the same way she always did, slightly worried that she had walked in right before another trial.

"Jane, cara, what is it?" Aro asked the young vampire. The raven-haired king had taken to becoming like that of a father to the ancient vampire, especially after she had turned into a creature of the night. "You never come back on your days off, my child."

"I came to report magical blood in the city," Jane's voice was rushed as she informed her kings of the Hogwarts students' presence. It had not been very long since the last Wizarding War and the kings were not expecting any more witches and wizards for at least another century. "I saw Minerva."

"What would she be doing here?" Marcus posed the question, speaking up for the first time. "Did she bring anyone with her, Jane?"

"Yes. Many children are accompanying her today. I can recognize one of them. Gelsomeana's hair is still like snow," Caius smirked at the memories of the infant his old friend had taken in. What a shame it was that Alyona Lestrange decided to turn with her husband. The woman had not shown an affinity for the Dark Arts like that of her father, but the fall into darkness can be tantalizing to even the kindest of souls.

"If she is here during the middle of December, one would assume that these children are from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Marcus turned to his pondering mate, "Have you received an owl from her or is she playing games with us again?"

"The latter, amore," Aro said, heading over to the doorway. "The clouds are in our favor today, i miei amori. Are either of you up for meeting the next generation of witches and wizards?"

"Anything to get Marcus out of the castle, amore," Caius snarked.

"I get out of the castle, Caius," his mate was less than convinced, rolling his eyes and leaving his throne.

It was time for a reunion.

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Gel's POV

**Before I could start to** wander like I would in the presence of such beautiful sights, my mother put me with a group of her students. All but three of these students were first years that I shared quite a few classes with. Vega, Malfoy, Neville, Lovegood, Diggory, Anderson, Al, and Laurence would be making sure that I didn't wander off too far.

Malfoy and Vega were clinging to each other just like Lovegood and Neville. I had already seen Diggory and Anderson make out during our first night here, so there was no doubt in my mind that they were dating. As for Malfoy and Vega, I had no clue what the status was, but I could see a little blush run on Malfoy's face whenever he talked about his friend. For Neville and Lovegood, they seemed quite close as friends. Neville was constantly blushing, but he did that all the time.

It was odd, coming to a place full of muggles. Personally, I had never met a single muggle in my life. Living in Hogsmeade had shielded me from all of that. To be fair, I had literally never looked at a muggle before, unless it was in pictures. Coming to a place full of them was a bit odd to say the least.

"Gel, did you see the clock tower?" Neville called out to me from the other side of the snowy park, "It looks so cool! Gran said that it's got some cool people inside, if you know what I mean."

Knowing that what my fellow Gryffindor had to say was going to be interesting, I went over to where he was in the park. Snow fell all around us. I had become accustomed to seeing snow during the winter, living in Hogsmeade and all, but I knew that Italian snow was much different than in my wizarding hometown. The snow in Hogsmeade was heavier, if that were even possible.

"So did you know that the Volturi live in those towers?" Neville whispered, making sure that no people could hear us. "Gran said that the Volturi only accept people with really powerful gifts."

"I bet they accept other people," I deflected, "Besides, Al said her Grandpa said to not go inside. Wait, why do I care?"

"Why  _ do _ you care?" I yelped as Al made her way behind me. "I say we screw him over and go in there. Not like anyone would tell us off. Plus, we have so much freedom.  _ As long as you stick together _ , isn't that what your mum said? What could go wrong?"

"Tempting fate with that phrase, my friend," she giggled as Neville's face paled.

"I don't want to get in trouble, but you two can go," I could see that he was visibly nervous about letting us go off. "Just come back in an hour or two. If Professor McGonagall finds out that you two went to the castle-"

"We'll be safe, Neville, don't worry," Al placated our anxious friend. "Gel and I will be back before you know it. If we don't make it back before dinner you can snitch on us."

"Just don't steal anything like you did last night," I laughed at the memories of Al and I stealing some of the snacks.

It was time for some marauding of our own.

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**The city of Volterra truly** was magnificent and unlike anything I had ever seen before. Even if the sun was going to set in a few hours, I longed to see more of the daytime in Italy. The place had its own air of calm and justice that I couldn't understand. Volterra was the home of the ruling vampire coven, as I had found out, which meant that the air could just be from the judicial side of immortality.

"Look over there," Al whispered to me, looking at a wall where two people in black cloaks were posted. "They look so majestic."

"They're so pale," I whispered back, looking at the very tall vampire that was standing next to his vampire friend (who was so much shorter in comparison). "Vampires don't have blood, right?"

"That is true, children," I screamed as I heard the voice of a man right behind us. "Magical children should not be out this late, don't you think?"

I whipped my head around to see a young looking man with the same pale skin as the people we were observing near the doors of the castle. His red eyes stood out as he chuckled.  _ Ok so can I just not almost die today? That would be nice. Yeah, no death please. Shit, he's probably not alone. _

"Aro, you're scaring them," I saw a blonde-haired man walk behind his fellow vampire. "Hello, mortal children."

"Gelsomeana and this friend of hers should be getting back to the group," A brown-haired man said.

"Wait a minute," I started, looking between the three of them, "How the bloody hell do you know my name? Got some sort of psychic powers or something?" The three of them chuckled at my questions.

"Yes, but they are unusable on a witch like yourself," he put out his hand for me to shake, "Aro Volturi, I have known your mother for a very long time. It has been a decade, so I do not suspect you remember me at all, being an infant and all."

"Aro Volturi," Al mumbled, looking at the man before sighing. "You're the guy from Grandpa's pub last year."

"You met this child, Aro?" the blonde man questioned.

"This one," Aro pointed, "Broke an inkpot when I met her. Seems to break everything according to her Grandfather."

"That- Damnit," Al swore, her head hung low, "I do my best but it always breaks. I think Grandpa goes through at least twenty per year."

"You met her at a  _ pub _ ," he rolled his eyes. "What is a child doing in a pub. What were you doing in Hogsmeade anyways, Aro? Scheming?"

"I do not scheme in the pub. Simply dealing with some matters," Aro clarified, although he was rather vague in his answer. "These young children should be going back to Minerva. She would be worried if she knew that her daughter and one of her students came out this far. Not all vampires are as kind as us, children, remember that. Do you know where you're supposed to be?"

Al and I exchanged confused looks before we both shook our head, not knowing how to get back to the cottage.  _ Great. Imagine the look on Mum's face if she knew that I forgot the way back after taking Al out this far. No wonder she doesn't trust me alone. I'd be getting myself killed if it weren't for Al. _

"That's alright. We can take you back," Aro announced, looking at the other two. "Is it the one near the ocean?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Your mother has had that thing since before you were born. Never thought I'd see the day where she came back to Volterra. The times have changed and we no longer get visitors," Aro said sadly, helping Al get up from where she was sitting in the snow. I brushed off some of the loose snow that had gotten onto my coat and shivered as the cold swept through my body.

I loved snow, but I hated how it always got in the worst places.

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**Walking back to the cottage** with vampires was not how I thought I would be spending my evening. Aro was very talkative and loved to chat about the things he had seen in his lifetime. It was disclosed that the three kings of the Volturi were in fact over three thousand years old, much longer than any other person I had encountered. Marcus was about two hundred years older than Aro and Caius, which made him around thirty five hundred years old.

Knocking on the door, I watched as my Mum opened up the house and saw the five of us standing outside.

"Gel dear-" she noticed the vampires standing behind us, "Aro, Caius, Marcus, what are you three doing with the children?"

"They found their way near the castle and we sought to it that they came home safely, Minerva," Aro smiled. "We did not know that you would be coming to Volterra this year."

"Just a school field trip for some of my favorite students," Mum explained. "Thank you for bringing them here. Did you forget the address again?"

"Yeah..." I trailed, looking embarrassed as I made my way back into the house. Neville waved at me and gasped when he saw the vampires outside. "Don't worry, these ones are friendly."

A few other kids made their way down the stairs of the cottage only to be met with the faces of three vampire kings. Malfoy slowly started walking right back up the stairs, taking Vega with him. Anderson just blinked a few times before going back up with Lovegood, who smiled as she left the vampires' presence.

One of the kings made eye contact with Cedric and let out a confused sound before shaking off whatever was on their minds.

"Dinner should be ready in about half an hour, so make sure that you've all changed into some new clothes!"


End file.
